The International African American Museum in Charleston held a one-year anniversary celebration at the Hampton III Gallery in Taylors.
The museum is located on 14 Wharfside St. in downtown Charleston, just down the harbor from the South Carolina Aquarium. An Upstate venue may seem like an odd fit for the celebration, but not when you dig a little deeper.
“So one of the things we want to definitely do is celebrate all of South Carolina and the stories that we tell, particularly as we explain how important South Carolina was to the rise of the nation in the past, present and hopefully in the future,” said Tonya M. Matthews, president and CEO of the museum. So Greenville is just up the road, and so we definitely wanted to be sure to celebrate our milestone here, as well as in our home base in Charleston.”
Matthews gave a speech in South Carolina’s oldest gallery Aug. 28 to talk about the success of the museum and upcoming exhibits.
The museum celebrates African American history, asserting that this moment is only the middle of the story. Matthews spoke on the African diaspora, giving credit to Malika Pryor, the museum’s chief learning officer.
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“The African diaspora was not created because slavery dispersed Africans all over the world. The African diaspora was created because the enslaved people who were dispersed all over the world decided to survive and to carry their culture with them,” Matthews said.
Photo by Sahar Coston-Hardy-Esto
The museum is currently running an exhibition titled “Follow the North Star” until November. It is the first exhibition curated by the museum with the support of Michelin.
She said the museum saw more than 200,000 visitors in its first year. Tickets to visit the museum can be purchased at iaamuseum.org.
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