A Harlem Institution Reimagines How Americans Interact With the African Continent

A recent panel on Africa’s external debt might seem like an odd fit for an arts institution with a permanent collection that includes a ceremonial Baule mask from Ivory Coast and a 2003 mixed-media piece by acclaimed artist Wangechi Mutu.

But it was part of deliberate programming by The Africa Center, a New York institution that after decades of meanders in both location and mission has emerged with new leadership and a new optimism that it can find an audience for dynamic and richly varied events centered on expanding people’s understanding of Africa.

“We want to convince you these things do affect our daily lives and are worthy of our attention,” said Tunde Olatunji, associate director of policy for The Africa Center, as he moderated the debt panel earlier this year that featured researchers from Nigeria and Kenya.

Far from being a stuffy museum, the space envisioned by Uzodinma Iweala, its chief executive officer since 2018, is a landing place for the African diaspora, an exploration of Blackness and a venue for changing the way Americans interact with the African continent.

Situated on an East Harlem street corner overlooking Central Park, the Center has welcomed billionaires Bill Gates and Mo Ibrahim talking about the future of African business as well as the actress Lupita Nyong’o reading from her children’s book on colorism. Hank Willis Thomas’s Afro Pick installation was situated on its plaza. The Center has hosted African presidents and prizewinning authors — and a sweaty crowd breaking into a dance party.

“There are places where your behavior has to be precious,” said Iweala, speaking about his vision. “Then there are the places that are about community — the way we interact with each other, the way we build that community, the way we are in that space eating, drinking, talking.”