After closing in 2021, the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Michael C. Rockefeller Wing finally reopens to the public today, following a $70 million renovation. The series of galleries comprising the wing contains the museum’s collections in the Arts of Africa, the Ancient Americas, and Oceania—over 1,800 works in total. The redesign frames these pieces, some of the most special in the museum’s extensive collection, in a whole new light.
«The complete renovation…reflects the Met’s profound commitment to—and deep expertise in—caring for and expanding understandings of the works in the Museum’s collection,” Max Hollein, the Met’s Marina Kellen French Director and Chief Executive Officer, said in a statement. “Together with our collaborative and community-based approach to curating these collections, the transformation of these galleries allows us to further advance the appreciation and contextualization of many of the world’s most significant cultures.”
Designed by WHY Architecture, led by Kulapat Yantrasast, in collaboration with Beyer, Blinder, Belle Architects LLP, and with the Met’s Design Department, the new Rockefeller Wing is wide, open, and airy in a way that gives each piece, from small ceramics to terracotta figurines to larger wooden sculptures, room to breathe. In the Arts of Oceania gallery, light from Central Park streams in through a custom-designed sloped glass wall, as a South Seas Ceremonial House Ceiling hangs overhead. In total, the new space displays art from five continents and hundreds of cultures.
The Arts of the Ancient Americas galleries, with windows overlooking Central Park.
«We hope to highlight the diversity and distinction within these rich collections while providing a welcoming and memorable sense of place,» said Yantrasast, who is known for his deep connections with the art world. (His past projects include the David Kordansky Gallery in Los Angeles, Louisville, Kentucky’s Speed Art Museum and the Institute of Contemporary Art Los Angeles.) «Natural light and visual connections to Central Park are essential to the reimagined wing,» he added. «Moments of discovery are so crucial when we design art spaces.»
The museum’s goal was to “reimagine these galleries for a new generation of visitors,” noted Hollein. The remodel includes the addition of digital features—screens throughout the wing with additional context on the surrounding pieces—along with updated wall text. The displayed works are pieces that have long been in the Met’s collection plus new acquisitions in the Arts of Africa galleries and commissions for the Oceania galleries by Indigenous artists.
The Arts of Africa galleries.
The Rockefeller Wing was first announced in 1969, compiling Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller’s survey of non-Western art and art of the ancient Americas—categories of work that were not at the time well-represented in the museum’s collection. The wing officially opened to the public in 1982. It was named after Nelson’s son, Michael C. Rockefeller, a young anthropologist who died after his boat capsized in New Guinea in 1961, when he was just 23. Included in the wing are nine 15-foot-tall carved wood Asmat funerary poles, which Michael acquired just before he died.
“While the creation of the wing asserted the place of the arts of sub-Saharan Africa, the ancient Americas, and Oceania in the world’s leading museum, the new edition underscores their autonomy from one another and foregrounds the artists responsible for those achievements,” said Alisa LaGamma, the curator in charge of the Michael C. Rockefeller Wing, in a statement.
The Arts of Oceania galleries, with the South Seas Ceremonial House Ceiling overhead.
The wing officially reopens today with an opening festival, which will feature live performances, including music and dance from Africa, the Americas, and Oceania, the cultures showcased in the Rockefeller Wing.
Laurie Cumbo, New York City’s commissioner of cultural affairs, said at the Wednesday press preview: “Every single culture should have a world class, state of the art space to highlight who they are.”
Annie Goldsmith is the senior editor and digital lead at ELLE Decor, where she covers design, culture, style, and trends. She previously held positions at The Information, covering technology and culture, and Town & Country, writing about news, entertainment, and fashion. Her work has also appeared in Vogue, Rolling Stone, and the SF Standard.
