The National Museum of African Art is again without a director after Ngaire Blankenberg quietly left the post on March 31. She had held this position for less than two years. The acting director will be John Lapiana, senior adviser to the undersecretary for museums and culture, who also served as deputy director since last spring.
Blankenberg encountered “individual and institutional resistance and then backlash,” she said. THE art diary by email. “There’s a lot of pressure and hope on individual leaders, especially black women, but at the first sign of trouble…well, she becomes the problem. It becomes a cliché.
Blankenberg started at the museum a year after the position was vacated by Augustus Casely-Hayford, who served as director for two years and left in early 2020.
When she took the job, Blankenberg said MuseumNext that she had set herself a “crazy challenge” for herself and her team: to attract a global African audience of Gen Z and Millennials. “My vision is to create a global museum of African art in the 21st century, with an international presence in Africa and the African diaspora,” she said. Smithsonian Magazine in 2022.
“For me, this was a fantastic opportunity to really push the boundaries of what a museum is in the 21st century and what a museum of African art is in the 21st century in America,” she said. . MuseumNext.
The museum was established in 1964 in a residence on Capitol Hill and became part of the Smithsonian Institution 14 years later, moving to the National Mall in 1987.
The museum made the headlines last year when the Smithsonian Institution approved the return to Nigeria of 29 Beninese bronzes that had been looted by British soldiers in a brutal 1897 raid on the Royal Palace. The museum had took them out of sight in 2021. This decision comes from Blankenbergwho was, according to an April email to all trustees from Kevin Gover, undersecretary of museums and culture, “a leading voice in shaping the Smithsonian’s new ethical returns policy.”
In July 2020, some former employees and former board members spoke out about a persistent culture of racism and racial bias at the museum, according to Type of crop. At the time of his hire, Blankenberg told CultureType that his “top priority” was to “hire more BIPOC staff into positions of power” and to “ensure that black and racialized staff are supported and empowered.” .
The Canadian-born began her career in television and documentary production, later becoming a consultant for Lord Cultural Resources and later design agency Kossmanndejong. His portfolio included the National Gallery of Canada, Superblue, the Constitution Museum and Archives on the Hill in Johannesburg, and the Canadian Museum for Human Rights. She also consulted with the exhibit team and education strategies for the National Museum of African American History and Culture, also a Smithsonian institution.
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