Feb 11, 2026
Five Years Dedicated to Black Art
The AGO celebrates five years of the Department of Arts of Global Africa and the Diaspora
Bidemi Oloyede. Untitled, Toronto, 2018. baryta fine art print, Overall: 71.1 × 71.1 cm. Art Gallery of Ontario. Purchase, with funds from the Friends of Global Africa and the Diaspora, 2021. © Bidemi Oloyede, Courtesy of Nicholas Metivier Gallery. 2021/83
It’s been just over five years since the AGO made history by establishing a department dedicated solely to art from the African continent and its global diaspora. The first of its kind at a major Canadian art museum, Arts of Global Africa and the Diaspora is devoted to expanding the AGO’s collections and exhibitions featuring historic, modern, and contemporary art. Under the tenure of curator Dr. Julie Crooks, and with the generous support of members of Toronto’s Black and Caribbean communities, the department has made several momentous strides in its mission since its formation in 2020.
From the landmark AGO exhibition Fragments of Epic Memory to the commission of Thomas J Price’s Moments Contained (2022), we’re revisiting some of the Department of Arts of Global Africa and the Diaspora’s biggest milestones of the last five years.
The Montgomery Collection of Caribbean Photographs and Fragments of Epic Memory
Unknown, Martinique Woman, c.1890. Albumen print, 15 x 11cm. Montgomery Collection of Caribbean Photographs. Purchase, with funds from Dr. Liza & Dr. Frederick Murrell, Bruce Croxon & Debra Thier, Wes Hall & Kingsdale Advisors, Cindy & Shon Barnett, Donette Chin-Loy Chang, Kamala-Jean Gopie, Phil Lind & Ellen Roland, Martin Doc McKinney, Francilla Charles, Ray & Georgina Williams, Thaine & Bianca Carter, Charmaine Crooks, Nathaniel Crooks, Andrew Garrett & Dr. Belinda Longe, Neil L. Le Grand, Michael Lewis, Dr. Kenneth Montague & Sarah Aranha, Lenny & Julia Mortimore, and The Ferrotype Collective, 2019.
In 2019, along with the support of 27 members of Toronto’s Black and Caribbean communities, the AGO purchased The Montgomery Collection of Caribbean Photographs. With over 3500 historical images from countries across the Caribbean, the collection contains studio portraits, landscapes and tourist views.
In 2021, The Montgomery Collection became the foundation for the Department of Arts of Global Africa and the Diaspora’s inaugural exhibition, Fragments of Epic Memory. Blending historical and contemporary narratives, the exhibition presented more than 200 photographs from the Montgomery Collection alongside paintings, sculpture, and video works by modern and contemporary Caribbean artists. Curated by Julie Crooks, the show featured a new commission by Sandra Brewster and art works by Ebony G. Patterson, Frank Bowling, and Manuel Mathieu.
Life Between Islands: Caribbean-British Art, 1950s–Now
Blue Curry, Islands, 1-4, 2022. Mixed media, each: 101.6 x 101.6 cm. Art Gallery of Ontario. Purchase, with funds from Friends of Global Africa & the Diaspora, 2024 © Blue Curry. Image courtesy of the artist.
Opening at the AGO in December 2023, Life Between Islands examined the relationship between the Caribbean and Britain, reconsidering British art history in the 20th and 21st centuries from a Caribbean perspective. Featuring more than 30 artists, including Aubrey Williams, Sonia Boyce, Blue Curry and Alberta Whittle, the exhibition spanned a range of mediums, from paintings to documentary photography, film, and sculpture. The show’s centerpiece – The Front Room: Inna Toronto/6ix by Michael McMillan – was a meticulously crafted, life-sized living room, fashioned in the style of a 1980’s Caribbean home.
The exhibition was co-curated by David A. Bailey, Director, International Curators Forum, and Alex Farquharson, Director, Tate Britain, and opened at the AGO after originally showing at Tate Britain in 2021. The AGO presentation of Life Between Islands was overseen by Crooks, who added several works to the lineup, helping to orient the show toward a Toronto audience.
The Culture: Hip Hop and Contemporary Art in the 21st Century
Opening event for the exhibition, The Culture: Hip Hop and Contemporary Art in the 21st Century, December 6, 2024. Art Gallery of Ontario. Michie Mee performing. Photo © AGO.
Immersing visitors in the world of hip hop through contemporary art and fashion, The Culture: Hip Hop and Contemporary Art in the 21st Century brought together contemporary artists, musicians, designers and stylists to tell the story of hip hop and its global impact on visual culture. Organized for hip hop’s fiftieth anniversary, the exhibition features contemporary art by celebrated artists like Derrick Adams, John Edmonds, Deana Lawson and Hank Willis Thomas. Opening in December 2024, several works in the exhibition centered the Toronto hip hop scene, including a monumental group portrait of 103 foundational figures of the Toronto hip hop scene taken by pioneering Canadian music photographer Patrick Nichols.
The exhibition was a resounding success with visitors and kicked off with an unforgettable opening night launch party. Canadian hip hop legend Michie Mee performed live in Walker Court to an audience of hundreds.
Acquisitions
In addition to these major exhibitions, the Department of Arts of Global Africa and the Diaspora has acquired several works of pivotal importance to the AGO Collection, produced a range of critically acclaimed smaller exhibitions, and consistently championed the work of Black Canadian artists.
In July 2025, the AGO unveiled a newly acquired public artwork by internationally renowned artist Thomas J Price. Titled Moments Contained (2022), the 2.7-meter-tall bronze sculpture depicts a contemplative young Black woman dressed casually, projecting a serene and confident demeanour. Other notable acquisitions include works by Jamaican painter Kimani Beckford as well as African American multidisciplinary artists Allison Saar and Wilmer Wilson IV.
A resident space of the Department of Arts of Global Africa and the Diaspora, the Murray Frum Gallery on Level 2 has been the site of numerous focused exhibitions that mark their respective artist’s first-ever solo show at the AGO. These include Moridja Kitenge Banza Et la lumiere fut (And there was light) (2021), June Clark: Unrequited Love (2024) and Oluseye: Orí mi pé (2025).
Looking Ahead
Next up for the department is the exhibition Sunday Best. Opening in October 2026, the show traces the histories of migration, activism, self-determination, and fashion design, woven into the enduring ritual of dressing in one's “best” clothing. Told through displays of fashion, visual art, ephemera, and time-based media, this expansive exhibition considers the use of style and self-fashioning in Black diasporic communities, from the 1880s to the present.
Making its world debut in Toronto, Sunday Best is conceived and curated by Crooks and Dr. Jason Cyrus (Associate Lecturer, London College of Fashion), with Amanda Bock (The Lynne and Harold Honickman Assistant Curator of Photographs, Philadelphia Art Museum), and Clare Sauro (Cara Keegan Fry Curator at the Robert and Penny Fox Historic Costume Collection at Drexel University). The exhibition design is in consultation with U.K.-based JA Projects architecture and design firm.
Stay tuned to Foyer for continued coverage of the Department of Arts of Global Africa and the Diaspora. Visit Oluseye: Orí mi pé currently on view in the Murray Frum Gallery (249) on Level 2 of the AGO. The exhibition Sunday Best opens in October 2026.
