Image Credit: Bridgit Beyer
The Metropolitan Museum of Art reopened The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing, following the completion of a major renovation. The wing includes the collections in the Arts of Africa, the Ancient Americas, and Oceania galleries, and features over 1,800 works spanning five continents and hundreds of cultures. These three major world traditions stand as independent entities in a wing that is in dialogue with neighboring gallery spaces. The galleries have been closed to the public and under renovation since 2021, and will reopen to the public on May 31, 2025, with a daylong celebratory festival.
Designed by WHY Architecture in collaboration with Beyer, Blinder, Belle Architects LLP, and with The Met’s Design Department, the reimagined galleries have been designed to transform the visitor experience and incorporate innovative technologies that allow The Met to display objects in new ways. In galleries dedicated to each of the distinct collection areas, design elements reference and pay homage to the architectural vernaculars of each region.
The reinstallation of all three collection areas—in the Arts of Africa, the Ancient Americas, and Oceania galleries—reflects new scholarship, undertaken in collaboration with international experts and researchers. Digital features and new wall text allow for deeper contextualization of objects. Highlights of the collections that are well known to long-time visitors to The Met are showcased in innovative ways with a completely new gallery design, which also incorporates filtered daylight through a custom-designed, state-of-the-art sloped glass wall on the south facade, adjacent to Central Park. Additionally, across each collection, there are objects on view for the first time, including major new acquisitions of historic and contemporary art in the Arts of Africa galleries; a gallery dedicated to light-sensitive ancient Andean textiles, which are the first of its kind in the United States; and several new commissions for the Oceania galleries by Indigenous artists and a range of new digital features that present contemporary perspectives.
“The complete renovation of The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing reflects The Met’s profound commitment to—and deep expertise in—caring for and expanding understandings of the works in the Museum’s collection. 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,” said Max Hollein, The Met’s Marina Kellen French Director and Chief Executive Officer. “When the wing first opened in 1982, it brought a much broader perspective on global art history to The Met, and this thoughtful and innovative reimagining reflects our ambition to continually expand and even complexify narratives. We’re deeply grateful to the many artists, scholars, community leaders, and cultural figures who are partnering with us on this essential and ongoing work.”
Kulapat Yantrasast, Founder and Creative Director of WHY Architecture, commented: “The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing affirms WHY’s belief that museums are true sites of empathy. Spaces where visitors from many different places can encounter and appreciate the artworks from other cultures around the world. Through our design with The Met, we hope to highlight the diversity and distinction within these rich collections while providing a welcoming and memorable sense of place. Natural light and visual connections to Central Park are essential to the reimagined wing, and moments of discovery are so crucial when we design art spaces. We hope that visitors remember what they experience and where that happens.”
