Ngaire Blankenberg is new Director of the National Museum of African Art

Blankenberg, an independent consultant, will join the Smithsonian, effective July 6.

Kevin Gover, Under Secretary for Museums and Culture, announced June 4 that Ngaire Blankenberg will become director of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African Art, effective July 6. “As a consultant for museums and cultural destinations, Blankenberg has rich experience finding innovative ways to connect cultural resources to new audiences and a passion for co-imagining inclusive museums of the future,” Gover said. 

As a member of the African diaspora, Blankenberg brings a unique perspective to NMAfA, which is dedicated to the collection, conservation, study and exhibition of Africa’s arts across time, geography and medium. As director, she will oversee almost 40 staff members and a proposed 2022 budget of $10 million. The museum’s collection of 12,000 artworks represents the diversity of the African continent and includes a variety of media—from jewelry to painting, photography, pottery, sculpture, textile and video and sound art—dating from ancient to present times.

Blankenberg has a proven track record in the transformation of museums and cultural spaces, including client, stakeholder and partnership relations, team building, and public engagement. Known for her bold ideas and fresh perspectives, she has advised clients around the world on how to stay relevant and engaged in community and society by developing new knowledge and programs based on strong foundations in design and operational and business planning. Her recent clients include the National Gallery of Canada, Superblue, Museum and Archive of Constitution Hill (Johannesburg), MEG- Musée d’ethnographie de Genève, Olympique de Marseille football club, and other global and local institutions.

In addition to her extensive work advising museums and cultural heritage sites, Blankenberg is an award-winning TV and documentary producer and director, and a published author. Her published works include Manual of Digital Museum Planning (2017), Cities Museums and Soft Power (AAM Press, 2015) and “Making Space, Changing Space: Black People and New Museums,” (Nka Journal of Contemporary African Art, Nov. 2016).

Blankenberg holds a Master of Arts, Media, and Cultural Studies from the University of Natal, in Durban, South Africa, and a bachelor’s degree in Journalism from Carleton University, in Ottawa, Canada.

“My thanks go to our distinguished search committee, staffed by Greg Bettwy, the Secretary’s Chief of Staff, who helped us identify such an exceptionally qualified candidate,” Gover continued.

The search committee, formed in 2019, consists of:

• Melanie Adams, Anacostia Community Museum
• Eric Barkley, NMAfA Advisory Board Member
• Melissa Chiu, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
• Salah Hassan, Cornell University
• Anne Howard Tristani, NMAfA Advisory Board Member
• Sandra Jackson Dumont, Lucas Museum of Narrative Art
• Deborah Mack, National Museum of African Art
• Karen Milbourne. National Museum of African Art
• Magdalene Johnson Obaji, Chair, NMAfA Advisory Board
• Veronica Shaw, National Museum of African Art

Blankenberg succeeds Augustus Casely-Hayford, who was director of the museum until November 2019. Deborah Mack, from the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture, has served as the interim director of the museum since 2019.

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