Symposium—Iba Ndiaye: Between Latitude and Longitude

Why It Matters

The exhibition redefines the modernist canon by integrating African perspectives, prompting museums worldwide to reassess representation and fostering deeper cross‑cultural understanding of shared artistic themes.

Key Takeaways

• Met’s Rockefeller Wing reopens featuring Iba Ndiaye exhibition.
• “Between Latitude and Longitude” juxtaposes Ndiaye with Western masters.
• Donation of “Tabaski III” anchors Ndiaye’s entry into Met’s collection.
• Symposium gathers international scholars to contextualize Ndiaye’s modernist legacy.
• Exhibition highlights sacrificial themes linking African, Islamic, and European art.

Summary

The Metropolitan Museum opened its newly renovated Michael C. Rockefeller Wing with a day‑long symposium centered on Senegalese modernist Iba Ndiaye. The flagship exhibition, “Between Latitude and Longitude,” presents Ndiaye’s seminal work “Tabaski III” alongside European masterpieces—Rembrandt’s “Sacrifice of Isaac,” Soutine’s still‑life, and an Igbo Ikenga—demonstrating the artist’s dialogue with global art history.

Curators emphasized the interdisciplinary collaboration between the Rockefeller Wing, the European Paintings Department, and the Modern and Contemporary galleries. Loans from visionary Dakar collectors and support from the Lee and Dollard Families Endowment Fund enabled a fluid conversation that situates Ndiaye’s exploration of sacrifice within both Islamic ritual and Western biblical iconography. The exhibition’s narrative draws on Ndiaye’s field research in Mali, his photographic studies of Senegalese livestock markets, and his reverence for Rembrandt’s chiaroscuro, underscoring a cross‑cultural visual language.

The program opened with a song composed by Senegalese musician Baaba Maal in honor of Ndiaye, highlighting the artist’s cultural resonance beyond the museum walls. Speakers from Dakar, Toronto, Palo Alto, and Paris unpacked the theological and anthropological dimensions of “Tabaski III,” while donors Margo and Anthony Viscusi’s promised gift of the painting cemented its place in the Met’s permanent collection. References to historic commissions such as Brunelleschi’s and Ghiberti’s biblical reliefs reinforced Ndiaye’s position within the canon of sacrificial imagery.

By foregrounding a pioneering African modernist within a premier Western institution, the Met signals a decisive shift toward a more inclusive narrative of modern art. The exhibition not only expands scholarly discourse on African contributions to modernism but also sets a precedent for future interdisciplinary programming that bridges geographic and disciplinary boundaries.

Original Description

Explore the significance of the work of artist Iba Ndiaye (1928–2008) with an esteemed group of international scholars. Ndiaye has emerged as a foundational figure in international Modernism, yet his contributions remain largely unknown outside Africanist circles and his Senegalese birthplace. Gain a deeper understanding of what shaped his artistic practice, including sources of inspiration across The Met collection and his unique personal history, which was formed by political legacies and global exchange.

Welcome

11 am

Max Hollein, Marina Kellen French Director and CEO, The Met

Introduction

11:15 am

Alisa LaGamma, Ceil and Michael E. Pulitzer Curator in Charge, The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing, The Met

David Pullins, Jayne Wrightsman Curator, Department of European Paintings, The Met

11:10: Session I: From Saint-Louis to Paris and Beyond: The Life and Work of Iba Ndiaye

El Hadji Malick Ndiaye, Director, Théodore Monod Museum of African Art, Dakar

Susan Vogel, Art Historian

Maureen Murphy, Professor, Art History, Paris Nanterre University

1:44:39: Session II: The Artist and His Times: Ecole de Dakar and Beyond

Elizabeth Harney, Associate Professor, Art History, University of Toronto

Joshua Cohen, Associate Professor, Department of Art & Art History, Stanford University

Ugochukwu-Smooth Nzewi, Artist, Art Historian, and the Steven and Lisa Tananbaum Curator, Department of Painting and Sculpture, Museum of Modern Art, New York

Ken Aicha Sy, Artivist, Curator, and Researcher

3:08:55: Keynote

Mamadou Diouf, Leitner Professor of African Studies, Columbia University

4:05:28: Closing Remarks

Alisa LaGamma, Ceil and Michael E. Pulitzer Curator in Charge, The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing, The Met

David Pullins, Jayne Wrightsman Curator, Department of European Paintings, The Met

Presented in conjunction with the exhibition Iba Ndiaye: Between Latitude and Longitude and in celebration of the reopening of The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing, featuring the Museum’s collections of the arts of Africa, the ancient Americas, and Oceania.

Events and programming related to the reopening of The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing are made possible by the Breyer Family Foundation, the Ford Foundation, Samuel and Gabrielle Lurie, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, and the Thompson Family Foundation. Additional support is provided by Stephen M. Cutler and Wendy N. Zimmermann, Kyveli and George Economou, Ed and Dale Mathias, the Mex-Am Cultural Foundation Inc., and two anonymous donors.

Additional program support is made possible by the Lee + Dollard Families Endowment Fund

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