Dr Andrea Myers Achi is an assistant curator at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York who specialises in late antique and Byzantine art, manuscript studies, and late Roman ceramics.
She received her bachelor’s degree in ancient studies from Barnard College and holds two master’s degrees from New York University: one in Ancient Near Eastern and Egyptian studies and the other in the History of Art from the Institute of Fine Arts. She holds a doctorate from IFA as well.
During her studies, Achi explored monastic books and book production from the medieval Monastery of St. Michael in Egypt. She is also an archaeological ceramicist and has been involved with numerous excavations in Egypt and Italy.
Achi has worked on a number of key exhibitions at The Met, for instance, Art and Peoples of the Kharga Oasis (2017), Crossroads: Power and Piety (2020), and The Good Life (2021). At present, she is working on exhibition projects related to Egyptian monasteries, the material culture of Late Antiquity, and Byzantine Art in Africa.
Achi has often unpacked sociological issues in her work, allowing today’s audiences of all ages to relate to ancient material. She relates issues of taste and social trends, political positioning and propaganda, or luxury, to the contemporary world through insightful curation and interpretation of a cross-section of Byzantine material sourced from across the world.
“She has, as a young woman of colour who is not afraid to address issues of racial inequity and the unspoken voices of the ancient world, addressed and presented untold stories,” says one nominator. “For example, her research on Byzantine Africa and the presentation and representation of black portraiture in the 1st and 2nd centuries AD is timely, necessary, and attracts new audiences to the work of the Byzantine department at the Metropolitan. Andrea makes ancient art accessible and, dare I say, entertaining.
“She is a model for the future of curatorial practice and deserves this recognition to the highest degree.”