Tubman African American Museum In Macon Celebrates ‘Afro-futurism’ With Unique Exhibit

A brand new exhibit at the Tubman African American Museum in Macon began Friday which celebrates a movement called “Afro-futurism.”

It’s a concept born only recently, with the debut of the “Brother Man” comic books of the early 1990’s. But the Afro-futurism movement continues today and can be seen in Macon’s Tubman African American Museum, where legends of the past meet heroes of the present and a dream of an even more promising future.

Museum curator Jeffrey Bruce says the movement blends ancient traditions with modern marvels.

“It’s taking ideas or images or different kind of cultural practices that come from traditional black cultures like African American cultures or African culture and marrying those ideas and those images with ideas and images from some more pop culture references,” Bruce said.

Afrofuturism has been an important part of black culture in America in art, music and literature. It’s so important to some, that Atlanta art teacher Lakeem Winborne heard about the exhibit, and came to Macon to see it for himself.

“I think it presents African Americans in a light that shows that we too are into science fiction, we too are into heroes and fantasies–we too create mythology,” Winborne told 41NBC.

Winborne says African Americans weren’t represented in the comic book and sci-fi world, but Afro-futurism has helped change that.

“There was a lack of people of African descent, people of a variety of cultural descents within what we know as modern day science fiction,” he said. “People said ‘It’s OUR duty, it’s our job as whatever culture we represent as Africans in America to show our images in a positive way.'”

Bruce says he hopes the Afro-futurism exhibit can help shed new light on African American culture, and maybe even surprise people.

“We want people to come in here and look at this work and think, wow this isn’t what I expected to find when I came into the black museum.”

The Afro-futurism in the Arts exhibit is going on through October 8th and there will be a reception to celebrate the exhibit’s opening next Thursday, July 28th from 6 to 8 PM.