The Metropolitan Museum of Art is set to reopen its Michael C. Rockefeller Wing this weekend following the completion of a major renovation.
The institution in New York will reopen the reimagined wing on 31 May. The space has been closed for renovation since 2021.
Now, it offers refurbished galleries for the museum’s collection of objects from Africa, the ancient Americas and Oceania. These are displayed in three distinct spaces, rather than grouped together.
“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,” said Max Hollein, the Met’s director and CEO.
The transformation of the wing’s galleries “allows us to further advance the appreciation and contextualization of many of the world’s most significant cultures”, he said.
“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,” Hollein added.
Refurbished galleries at Met museum
The Rockefeller Wing contains more than 40,000 square feet of gallery space and features more than 1,800 works spanning five continents and hundreds of cultures.
The galleries were designed by WHY Architecture in collaboration with Beyer, Blinder, Belle and the Met’s design department.
Kulapat Yantrasast, founder and creative director of WHY Architecture, said: “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.”
Galleries in the Rockefeller Wing now include digital features and new wall text, allowing the museum to display artefacts in new ways.
Also, across each collection, objects have been put on view for the first time.
These include new acquisitions of historic and contemporary art in the Arts of Africa galleries, and several new commissions for the Oceania galleries by Indigenous artists.
Images courtesy of the Met
