Afro-Asia, or Art for a Global Majority

Harvey Buchanan Lecture in Art

Lecture
Ticket Required

Wednesday, September 24, 2025, 5:30–6:30 p.m.

Dr. Joan Kee, Judy and Michael Steinhardt Director of the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, and Professor of Fine Arts

Location: Lecture Hall
John C. and Sally S. Morley Family Foundation Lecture Hall

Free; Ticket Required

background pattern — *Recollection A*, 1972. Park Re-hyun (Korean, 1920–1976). Copperplate print; 45 x 73 cm. Private collection. Photo courtesy of Joan Kee

About The Event

What if art history reframed itself around global majorities so that more of the world could be seen rather than less? To speak of a global majority—a term that has moved through decolonization struggles since the 1950s, 1970s developmentalism, and institutional gatekeeping—is to acknowledge that most of the world has been sidelined by systems that mistake their own limitations for universal relevance. But what happens when we insist on abundance in lieu of artificial scarcity? More than a question of inclusion, this is a challenge to embark on different approaches to navigation: Instead of a map that abstracts its picture of the world from a single stationary point, terms like “Afro-Asia” demand moving between artworks as a navigator moves between islands, constantly recalibrating position in response to changing currents rather than imposing fixed taxonomies from above. Artists like William H. Johnson, Re-hyun Park, and Uzo Egonu emphasize how artistic communities constitute their own forms of governance. Rather than wait for permission, their works ask what art history might become when it stops apologizing for the world’s abundance and starts reckoning with it.

This lecture is made possible by the Julius Fund.

Sponsors

All education programs at the Cleveland Museum of Art are underwritten by the CMA Fund for Education. Principal support is provided by Dieter and Susan M. Kaesgen and Gail C. and Elliott L. Schlang. Major annual support is provided by Brenda and Marshall Brown, Mrs. Martine Kowal, Eva and Rudolf Linnebach, Medical Mutual of Ohio, the Edwin D. Northrup II Fund, Shurtape Technologies, and the Kelvin and Eleanor Smith Foundation. Generous annual support is provided by Gini and Randy Barbato, the M. E. and F. J. Callahan Foundation, Dr. William A. Chilcote Jr. and Dr. Barbara S. Kaplan, Char and Chuck Fowler, the Giant Eagle Foundation, Linda Harper, the late Marta and the late Donald M. Jack Jr., Susan LaPine, Bill and Joyce Litzler, the Logsdon Family Fund for Education, Sarah Nash, Courtney and Michael Novak, William J. and Katherine T. O’Neill, the Pickering Foundation, William Roj and Mary Lynn Durham, Suzanne Cushwa Rusnak and Jeff Rusnak, Ellen and Lowell Satre, in memory of Dee Schafer, Betty T. and David M. Schneider, the Sally and Larry Sears Fund for Education Endowment, Roy Smith, Paula and Eugene Stevens, the Trilling Family Foundation, Jack and Jeanette Walton, and the Womens Council of the Cleveland Museum of Art.

The Cleveland Museum of Art is funded in part by residents of Cuyahoga County through a public grant from Cuyahoga Arts & Culture.

Education programs are supported in part by the Ohio Arts Council, which receives support from the State of Ohio and the National Endowment for the Arts.