Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture

traveling exhibition

The Schomburg Center has an extensive traveling exhibition program designed to offer exhibitions to cultural institutions and organizations interested in presenting programs on the history and culture of people of African descent.

The Schomburg Center offers two types of traveling exhibitions:

Major Exhibitions:  include original photographs and are available only to facilities with lighting and security at museum-quality standards. They can be booked for three to six months.

Panel Exhibitions: include either wall-hung framed photo-text panels on Masonite or freestanding-framed photo-text panels. They can be booked for four to eight weeks.

For all exhibitions, the Schomburg Center supplies text panels and/or labels, and a sample press kit with releases and photographs. In addition to basic rental fees, local sponsors are responsible for insurance and shipping costs to and from the exhibition site. All sites must have controlled environments and must meet Schomburg Center security and fire control standards. For a full list of the Center’s traveling exhibitions, please click here.

FEATURED EXHIBITIONS:


Francina Ndimande of Mabhoko, Mpumalanga Province, South Africa: "When I was small I watched my mother paint her home. Then I use to take ash and paint my playhouse." Photography by Margaret Courtney-Clarke, Art of African Women

Art of African Women

This exhibition surveys traditional interior and exterior design, pottery, weaving, and other decorative arts that have been passed down from mothers to daughters for centuries. The photographs by internationally acclaimed photojournalist Margaret Courtney-Clarke were captured during her 20-year quest to document traditions in South, West, and North Africa.

Contents: 139-framed color prints, various sizes with separate labels, and seven acrylic paintings

Panels include: introductory panel, map, photo, and text panels

Case items include: 83 artifacts such as ceramic sculptures, pottery, weavings, and handmade toys
Space Required: 500 linear feet and 3000 cubic square feet
Crates: 26
Weight: To be determined
Exhibition Period: 6 to 8 weeks
Loan Fee: $15,000
Insurance Required: $250,000
Special Requirements: 5-foot candlelight level in exhibition area
Shipping: Approved shipper
Optional: Display cases for artifacts can be supplied by the Schomburg Center at an additional cost

 


From the Chicago Commission on Race Relations, The Negro in Chicago: A Study of Race Relations and a Race Riot. The University of Chicago Press, 1922

In Motion: The African-American Migration Experience

African Americans, perhaps more than any other population in the Americas, have been shaped by migrations. Their culture and history are the products of black peoples’ various movements, coerced and voluntary, that started in the Western Hemisphere 500 years ago. Everywhere their thirst for freedom, education, and opportunities brought them, African Americans have recreated themselves and transformed the land, the cities, the culture, and ultimately the nation. With 75 framed photographs, panel text introducing each of the thirteen migrations, documents and artifacts, and a companion Web site, In Motion: The African-American Migration Experience examines how African Americans, constantly in motion, have formed and transformed themselves and their landscape through migration.

Contents: Wall-hung items include: 75-framed black and white and color prints, various sizes, with separate labels; 16 panels include an introduction, map, and text panels

Case items include: 107 documents—rare and contemporary manuscripts, periodicals, and artifacts.
Space Required: 500 linear feet for wall-hung

2000 square feet
Crates: To be determined
Weight: To be determined
Exhibition Period: 8 weeks
Loan Fee: $15,000
Insurance Required: $230,000
Security: High
Special Requirements: 5-foot candle light level in exhibition area
Shipping: Approved shipper
Optional: Display cases for manuscripts and artifacts can be supplied by the Schomburg Center at an additional cost.
Recommended: The Schomburg recommends that a computer station with Internet access be made available for visitors to access the In Motion Web site (www.inmotionaame.org).

 

In Motion: The African-American Migration Experience (Panel Version)

Contents: 28-full color framed wall-hung panels

30”x 40” with self contained labels and text

Space Required: 160 running feet
Crates: 2-36”x 46”
Weight: 1100 lbs.
Exhibition Period: 4-6 weeks
Loan Fee: $4,500
Insurance Required: $84,000
Shipping: Approved shipper
Recommended: The Schomburg recommends that a computer station and Internet access be made available to visitors to access the In Motion Web site (www.inmotionaame.org).

 


Deaths were a daily occurrence during the sea voyage from Africa to the Americas, with sickness, disease, rebellion, and suicide taking many lives. Photography by Rod Brown

Lest We Forget: The Triumph Over Slavery

Drawing on the rich and diverse collections of the Schomburg Center, Lest We Forget: The Triumph Over Slavery examines 400 years of chattel slavery. Utilizing recent scholarship, this full color, 31-panel exhibition recognizes the oppression, exploitation, and victimization that characterized the transatlantic slave trade, but emphasizes the way in which African peoples throughout the Western Hemisphere invented themselves and created social, political, economical, and cultural organizations in the face of overwhelming obstacles. From the abolitionist Frederick Douglass and the much-revered Jamaican guerrilla fighter Nanny, to the self-educated Ignatius Sancho, whose letters provide insight into the minds of enslaved Africans, to the Afro-Brazilian martial art capoeira, Lest We Forget, The Triumph Over Slavery illuminates the ways in which enslaved Africans developed their own unique culture in the midst of slavery.

Contents: 31-full full color framed wall-hung panels, 30” x 40” with self contained labels and text
Space Required: 170 running feet
Crates: 2
Weight: 1200 lbs
Exhibition Period: 4 to 6 weeks
Loan Fee: $4,500
Insurance Required: $46, 500
For Purchase: $18,000
Shipping: Approved shipper

 


 

Nelson Mandela: Man of the People

Photographs by Peter Magubane

The exhibition is an extraordinary photographic tribute by Dr. Peter Magubane to South Africa’s first democratically elected President. It spans five decades, and is a celebration of the 90th anniversary of the birth of Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela on July 18, 1918. Magubane photographed Mandela at different phases of his life as political activist, prisoner, family man, leader, Nobel laureate, President and statesman. On display together for the first time ever, this exhibition features over 100 photographs beginning in the mid-1950s to his post-presidential leadership and family roles. Peter Magubane is an internationally acclaimed photographer from Johannesburg, South Africa whose work has been published and exhibited all over the world.

Contents: 104, 21" x 28" black wood framed, color, black & white photographs; and separate labels, photo, and introductory text panels.
Space Required: 550 linear feet
Special Requirements: 5-foot candle light level
Crates: 1@ 42"h x 30"w x 12"d,
4@ 30"h x 30"w x 23"d
Weight: 1500 approx. pounds
Exhibition Period: 6 to 8 weeks
Loan Fee: $10,000
Insurance Required: $520,000
Security: High
Shipping: Approved shippers

For more information on all traveling exhibitions click here.