AFRICAN ART AT THE MET IN THE REIMAGINED MICHAEL C. ROCKEFELLER WING Heading into Manhattan for some Culture

Yes even though our trip was centred in Brooklyn and the picturesque Williamsburg I had to go check out The Metropolitan Museum of Art. What a marvelous building it is, but please note if you are not a NY resident it costs $30 per person – not like the UK when most museums and art galleries are free of charge. However, once inside you can spend hours and hours wandering around the very special exhibits of paintings, sculptures, photographs and lithographs.

Something that caught my eye was the dramatic “Arts of Africa” housed in the newly renovated Michael C Rockefeller Wing. A beautiful light,bright area displaying some 500 works. The curating of the collection was undertaken in partnership with the World Monuments Fund. The Met and WMF jointly selected sites across sub-Saharan Africa. With pieces spanning from antiquity to the twentieth century and gathered from Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Madagascar, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Republic of Benin, Botswana, Uganda, and Togo (See facing page)

Throughout the museum there are also many well known sculptures and paintings including Gustave Moreau’s masterpiece “Oedipus and the Sphinx”. This painting, perfectly hung and lit, shines out, attracting viewers to step forward and examine it more closely. It depicts the legendary Greek prince Oedipus and his meeting with the malevolent Sphinx who tormented him with the riddle “What creature walks on four legs in the morning, two legs at noon, and three legs in the evening”. The answer being a human, who crawls as a baby, strides upright in maturity and uses a cane in old age.

Once you’ve completed your time at The Met, the Solomon R Guggenheim Museum is also well worth a look and literally just a 5 minute stroll away, up Fifth Avenue between 88th and 89th street. Or you might choose to wander across the street, and stroll through the iconic Central Park. Or take the subway to another location. This trip was my first time riding the New York Subways. Previously it had been deemed unsafe but things have changed and its now a relatively ok way of getting around New York. Lines do vary however, from the newer, brighter, more spacious ones with better AC, to the older, grubbier, more crowded and noisier ones. However, with just a quick stroll along the great wide expanses of the Upper East side avenues, taking in the impressive skyscrapers and perpetual barrage of cars and taxis, we were soon back to the peace and tranquility of Williamsburg. – But not before a photo at the Met of course!