Explore a fantastical reimagining of what if Seneca Village—a vibrant nineteenth-century predominantly Black community-displaced to make way for Central Park- had been allowed to thrive into the present and beyond. Every artwork, from Bamileke beadwork and 19th-century American ceramics to new pieces, each telling a rich story (explained through informative descriptions throughout)

Like other period rooms throughout the Museum, this installation is a fabrication of a domestic space that assembles furnishings to create an illusion of authenticity. Unlike these other spaces, this room rejects the notion of one historical period and embraces the African and African diasporic belief that the past, present, and future are interconnected and that informed speculation may uncover many possibilities. Powered by Afrofuturism—a transdisciplinary creative mode that centers Black imagination, excellence, and self-determination and activated through vision, sound, and storytelling, and furnished with a kaleidoscope of works from The Met’s collection—from Bamileke beadwork and 19th-century American ceramics to contemporary art and design that celebrates rich and diverse traditions—the room foregrounds generations of African diasporic creativity and celebrates Black history.

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