Throwback: Exploring DC’s African Art Museum & Botanic Garden

Exterior of the National Museum of African Art + promo of the Ike Ude's Nollywood Portraits Exhibition  - Washington DC, April 2023 

Good morning beautiful people,

I’m so happy the sun is back where it belongs—up in the sky, gracing us with its warmth. These last few days have been brutal, and I truly hope we’ve seen the last of the cold season—for real for real. 

As usual, my photo app is working overtime with these throwbacks. Today’s reminder was an international student trip to Washington, D.C.—one of those school-sponsored outings that start with group photos at the Lincoln Memorial (mainly to show prospective students you’ll “discover America” while here) and end with: "Be back here by 5 PM if you want to catch the bus” instructions.

The Lincoln Memorial is a mecca of sorts for tourists—it was so crowded, this was the closest I could get that day (after climbing stairs like I was trying out for Rocky). From his seat, Abraham Lincoln—America’s 16th—faces the Washington Monument (yes, the pointy thing), and the Capitol. The monument is 99ft (30m) tall, with Lincoln himself seated at 19ft (5.8m)...it is massive -  from the 2019 Washington DC trip archives

Approximately halfway up those steps to the Lincoln Memorial is a marker. On this spot, in 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King delivered his 'I Have a Dream' speech as he overlooked the Reflecting Pool, the Monument and Capitol in the background, reports show over 200,000 people were in attendance - Washington DC, April 2023

Image from CNN - MLK delivering his 'I have a dream' speech in 1963...Goosebumps

Mostly the pick up is somewhere on the National Mall stretch - not an actual Mall but the massive stretch of green in downtown Washington, D.C., where you’ll find the Lincoln Memorial, U.S. Capitol, Washington Monument, and a bunch of major museums and memorials aka the touristy side of life.

Page 1000 of how to take photos that say 'i am a tourist' - put your finger up and touch far away buildings - on the real though, from Lincoln's Memorial (where I am standing), you can see the Washington Monument (the pointy thing I am pointing) and the Capitol behind it. This body of water is known as the Reflecting Pool...Washington DC, April 2023

This was actually my third time going for the school trips, but my fifth or sixth time in DC. Let me make that math. So back when I was a mental health advocate running her own social enterprise (soft brag), I’d been to DC a few times - a girl even spoke at the historic Howard Theatre (est 1910) for The Moth, where I’m a global mainstage alum btw (soft brag much?).

Good old times  - a time was had on that MOTH stage, Washington DC 2016

First, The National Museum of African Art

Let us go back to these school sponsored DC trips which I always signed up for the same two reasons:

1. It’s free - the student budget life lived for these first come, first served treats.

2. The solo exploration time (after the group pic) that always led me to my favorite spots. Though there are like 20 or so museums - almost next to each other on the National Mall stretch thanks to the Smithsonian Institution (will give more info shortly), I somehow always go to only two spots over and over again - The National Museum of African Art (not to be confused with the National Museum of African American History and Culture) and the U.S. Botanic Garden (as someone with over 40 houseplants, the garden is a must). 

A little history lesson 

So my bot boo and I were digging through the history of my two fav spots for the blog and these are some of the things we dug. 

1. the Smithsonian Institution is a group of 21 museums, a national zoo, and multiple research centers, often described as “America’s attic.” It was founded in the 1800s with money left behind by James Smithson, a British scientist who had never even visited the U.S. but wanted to support “the increase and diffusion of knowledge.” Today, it’s publicly funded and free to enter.

2. The National Museum of African Art on the other hand started as a private collection of African art by a white American called Warren M. Robbins—in his own residence on Capitol Hill. Yep. The National Museum of African Art began in someone’s house. Robbins, a former U.S. Foreign Service officer, started collecting African pieces mostly from antique shops and European dealers (especially in Germany), where many objects had ended up through colonial networks. His aim, he said, was to foster cross-cultural understanding. But he collected with little connection to the communities these works came from.

In 1979, his personal museum was absorbed into the Smithsonian Institution, and by 1987, the museum had moved to the National Mall…which is why I can walk to it with my eyes closed when we are dropped off at the Lincoln Memorial. 

This was pre-covid not sure why this exhibition at the National Museum of African Art was closed - Washington DC, April 2019

With all these European countries slowly returning African art to Africans, I was curious to know the museum's position. Well, the National Museum of African Art has publicly acknowledged that many of its pieces were acquired during the colonial era—a time when African art was being taken, traded, or sold under systems of power that rarely involved consent. 

It says it’s working to research and publish the full history—or provenance—of these objects: how they left the continent, who handled them, and under what conditions. They’re also in conversation with African artists, scholars, and institutions to rethink how this art should be cared for, returned, or re-contextualized.

Main exhibition at the National Museum of African Art was Nollywood Portraits by Ike Ude - Washington DC, April 2023

Back to April 2023 

So for this particular trip in April 2023, we of course started at the Lincoln Memorial—did the group picture, then we were on our own. As usual, I headed straight to the African Art Museum, which on this particular day delivered three amazing things:

1. A gallery of Nollywood Portraits by Iké Udé, honoring some faces we grew up watching. If you are as old as I am, you know when we moved from telenovelas, we were hooked on 'afrocinema' will be back shortly', so it was good to see some of those faces in the exhibition.

About Nollywood: Part of Ike Ude's Nollywood Portraits at the National Museum of African Art - Washington DC, April 2023

If you do not know who Genevieve Nnaji is...pause, Google or talk to your custom GTP...then come back, don't want disrespectful people on my blog - Washington DC April 2023

Ensemble of part of Nollywood...was surprised Mama G was not there - Washington DC, April 2023

This was one of my best parts of Ike Ude exhibition - Washington DC, April 2023

2. A familiar portrait by Kenyan visual artist Osborne Macharia—his work was everywhere on Kenyan social media (back when we used it for joy, not just to flex). The image? A crew of grannies in shades and fly attire—this was way before Zambia’s Margret Chola made African grandmas iconic.

He’s also the genius behind Sauti Sol’s Midnight Train album cover, and his pieces even popped up in the restaurant set of the TV show Harlem. You should’ve seen me when I spotted one and went, “Wait—is that Osborne Macharia’s work?” (Yes, I felt like a seasoned art connoisseur.)

Completely unrelated: my romanticized version of being a professor is basically Whoopi Goldberg in this series. Need to catch up on Season 3.

Kenya's Osbourne Macharia's work at the National Museum of African Art - Washington DC, April 2023

3. And soft but direct reminders of Mama Africa

More assignments -  Google Mercator Projection

Loved playing around with this - Washington DC, April 2023

...is you don't know, now you know - Washington DC, April 2023

Then, the Historic U.S Botanic Garden

After that, I wandered through the historic U.S. Botanic Garden, founded in 1820 and with all its greenhouse mist glory - y'all know the dream is owning a library and plant house. Or at least a store that sells books and plants... but for now I have 40+ houseplants in my apartment and a small shelf with books (we all start from somewhere).

A little digging shows that I am not the only dreamer. The story behind the garden is a simple one—or at least the version I got. George Washington, America’s first, had a dream. (Yes, long before Dr. King—am I fetching? Maybe. But stay with me.) He wanted a national space where people could learn about agriculture, trade plants, and basically get into their plant parent bag. So Congress did what they occasionally do—played their part, and boom: a massive, misty botanic garden right in the heart of D.C. Today, it’s run by the Architect of the Capitol (aka the caretakers of federal buildings in the Capitol) and remains one of the oldest operating gardens in North America.

I clearly went from pointing at buildings to peace signs - Botanical Gardens, Washington DC April 2023

Finally, On This Day

This morning, my phone surfaced a photo from that trip—one of those “On This Day” memories. And I thought, why not share?

Now that I am not in the school trip bundle, I need another excuse to go to DC, was there briefly last year to drop my passport at the Kenyan Embassy for renewal...will look for an excuse to go this year...and venture off the National Mall trail.

Until the next throwback,

Sending love and light,

Sitawa