“Harlem, Black Cultural Capital of the World”

This sweeping exhibition chronicles Harlem’s ascension as a cultural, intellectual, and political epicenter for Black communities—from the early 20th century through today.

Beginning with the Great Migration, the exhibit captures Harlem’s explosive rise during the Renaissance (1920s–1930s), when Black and African brilliance shone across arts, scholarship, politics, and spirituality. It continues through mid-century cultural rebirth (1950s–1970s), highlighting jazz, poetry, visual arts, and revolutionary ideas rooted in community and cultural pride.

Harlem: Black Cultural Center of the World is both celebration and invocation—preserving a rich legacy and inspiring a new cultural renaissance through storytelling that resonates past, present, and future.