 Keynote Speaker :

Dr. Idris Olagoke Badmus – President & Founder African Center Foundation – "Africa’s Dream" - 44 offices worldwide

 Dr. Randy Weston, the reknown jazz great and Historian of African American Classical Music

 Dr. Adelaide Sanford, New York State Regent Emeritus and former Vice Chancellor, "Our Mother Africa"

 South African painter Vumelani Sibeko, the great, great grandson of King Shaka Zulu

 Danny Simmons, artist, poet, African art collector, cultural visionary founder of Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation

 Dr. Roy Hastick, Caribbean American Chamber of Commerce & Industry (CACCI)

 NYC Councilmembers Robert Cornegy, Jumaane Williams, Laurie Cumbo, Federal, State, and local officials.

 Speak to the Chairman Mohammed Nurhussein, and President Sidique Wai of the United African Congress.

The message will be of unity and in strengthening the bonds between Africa and the United States in all ways.

In conjunction with the office of the Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, this is the 2nd Annual Exhibition celebrating the connections between the peoples of Africa and the Brooklyn public. The massive collection of Eric Edwards, one of the largest in the United States, is the center-piece of this historical undertaking. Carefully assembled over the last forty Four years this Brooklynite has one of the finest and foremost collections of African art and artifacts in the country. Mr. Edwards, a graduate of Brooklyn Tech and CCNY, will along with other experts discuss the cultural relevance of the art of Africa to people of all backgrounds and ethnicities. The making of the art and its utilitarian, religious and spiritual uses will be discussed along with its role in the development of contemporary modern art. Museums in NYC began formally collecting African art in the early 20th century, in Europe considerably earlier. Artists such as Basquiat, Picasso, Braque, Klee, Matisse and many of the modernists appropriated African art images and incorporated it into many of what today are considered the greatest modern masterpieces. Artists today such as Otto Neals and Danny Simmons recognize the aesthetic qualities of the sacred wooden sculptures and masks of African artisans. You will see the power manifested from this in the contemporary creations of the artists presented in this exhibition.

It is with that same inspiration that eleven wonderful contemporary artists will present their new works which have been inspired by the Eric Edwards collection. They make the leap from the past to the present, and we will realize mankinds’ inspiration and what makes us human doesn’t change with time.