Wakeupworld Salon: Derek Fordjour

Join us for Wakeupworld Salon: Derek Fordjour, organized in the spirit of the Harlem Renaissance's famed salons that brought together communities of artists and intellectuals to foster creativity and explore themes also found in our centennial exhibition100: A Century of Collections, Community, and Creativity. We will keep the galleries open until 8pm, inviting you to view and gain inspiration from the exhibition at 5:15 PM tour of the Aaron Douglas 4-panel murals with Harlem resident and acclaimed artist Derek Fordjour in the Latimer Gallery, followed by a conversation with Fordjour. We will hear about his relationship to Harlem and Douglas's work and how the archives impact his art practice. The intimate conversation takes place atop of the famed Houston Conwill cosmogram Rivers with small bites and beverages.

The evening is dedicated to Schomburg's enduring role as a research center and a convening space for intergenerational conversations, world-building, and creativity. This is the third installment of our Wakeupworld Salon series. *The salon takes its name--Wakeupworld--from Countee Cullen's mythical creature in his poem The Wakeupworld.

100: A Century of Collections, Community, and Creativity celebrates 100 years of groundbreaking work at the Schomburg Center. Curated by Center Director, Joy Bivins, the exhibition explores Schomburg’s legacy through the prism of place, people, and material culture. Featuring iconic objects from each of Schomburg’s five collecting divisions across three galleries, 100 is filled with artwork, photography, rare publications and personal journals, audio recordings from the archive, and highlights the iconic Aaron Douglas 4-panel mural Aspects of Negro Life.

DEREK FORDJOUR

Derek Fordjour was born in Memphis, Tennessee to Ghanaian parents. He is the recipient of the 2025 Gordon Parks Foundation Artist Fellowship, the 2023 St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital Spirit of the Dream Award, and previously served as the Alex Katz Chair at Cooper Union. He has received public commissions for the Highline, the NYC AIDS Memorial, MOCA Grand Avenue and the MTA’s Arts & Design program. Fordjour’s work has been reviewed in The New York Times, Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Los Angeles Times. A monograph of his work will be published by Phaidon in 2027.

He is a graduate of Morehouse College in Atlanta Georgia, earned a Master’s Degree in Art Education from Harvard University and an MFA in painting from Hunter College. His work is held in the private and public collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Whitney Museum of American Art, Guggenheim Museum, and The Royal Collection in London among others. He is the founder of the Contemporary Arts Memphis.

This year, the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture is celebrating the 100th anniversary of its founding! Join us all year long for a wide array of special events, exhibitions, and more as we celebrate this milestone and continue the legacy of Arturo Schomburg.

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FIRST COME, FIRST SEATED Events are free and open to all, but due to space constraints registration is requested.

ACCESSIBLILITY Accessibility requests can be made by e-mail [email protected].

E-TRANSPORTATION NYPL policy prohibits electric transportation devices (e.g., motorbikes, e-bikes, e-scooters, e-skateboards) from being brought into or stored at library sites for any length of time, as this is the best way to keep our spaces & people safe.

AUDIO/VIDEO RECORDING Programs are photographed and recorded by the Schomburg Center. Attending this event indicates your consent to being filmed/photographed and your consent to the use of your recorded image for any all purposes of the New York Public Library.

PRESS Please send all press inquiries (photo, video, interviews, audio-recording, etc) at least 24-hours before the day of the program to Leah Drayton at [email protected].

Please note that personal and professional video recordings are prohibited without expressed consent.

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Host or Publisher Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture