Before Yesterday We Could Fly
The exhibit, which opened on November 5, 2021, uses a period room format of installation to envision the past, present, and future home of someone who lived in Seneca Village, a largely African American settlement which was destroyed to make way for the construction of Central Park in the mid-1800s.
Period rooms are common, immersive museum installations which recreate an interior from a particular time and place by curating art, architecture, furniture, and other objects from that era.
[4] The form has been subject to some criticism for providing idealized historical scenes which, according to co-curator Sarah Lawrence, are ultimately "complete fiction" and largely "white affluent Eurocentric interiors".
The period room in the exhibit recreates the house of a fictional Seneca Village resident as it may have existed at the time, but also how their descendants may have lived in the present and future, as if the settlement had not been destroyed.
[4] The kitchen area largely comprises objects and artworks from the past, but also includes modern works, and the living room is oriented more to the future.
[4] The exhibit uses the Met's existing collections from as early as the 17th century, new acquisitions from artists like Ini Archibong, Yinka Ilori, Cyrus Kabiru, Roberto Lugo, Zizipho Poswa, Atang Tshikare, and Tourmaline, and three commissioned works by Njideka Akunyili Crosby, Fabiola Jean-Louis, and Jenn Nkiru.
[13][1][4][9] Some of the functional objects from the Met's collection were selected to evoke artifacts unearthed during Columbia University's 2011 Seneca Village Project, including a number of glass pieces; some of the newer works also fit into this theme.
[23][1] Ini Archibong's Vernus 3[24] is a piece in the Before Yesterday We Could Fly: An Afrofuturist Period Room inspired by the glass artifacts found in the excavation of 2011.
Salamishah Tillet called the rooms "breathtaking" and wrote that one of the most salient characteristics of the exhibit is its "ornateness [which] underscores the toll of the city's loss, and the consequences of denying Black people the ability to pass on their wealth across generations".
