Whether your grandparents came from Senegal or Sweden, you face this question when you enter one of the newest museums in San Francisco: When did you discover you are African?
The question, in simple black letters on the white lobby wall, seeks to teach visitors to the Museum of the African Diaspora (MoAD) that Africa was the birthplace of humanity. “We start with Africa, with the premise that we are all African, which is factually correct,” explains executive director V. Denise Bradley, ’81, referring to archaeological evidence that humankind evolved on that continent. “It is empowering to learn how deep your roots go.”
MoAD, which recently celebrated its first anniversary, is a “first voice” museum, a term used to describe museums in which specific groups demonstrate, collect and display their culture from their own point of view. Yet while there are many other first-voice museums throughout the country, MoAD’s focus on the African diaspora—how its people have been dispersed by the slave trade and by migration—stands alone. “MoAD has really attempted to create a different kind of institution, having at its core issues of diaspora,” says Connie Wolf, ’81, director and CEO of the Contemporary Jewish Museum. “I don’t think you could have seen this museum 20 years ago, recognizing the fluidity of the way people see themselves.”
Perhaps in part because of the diffuse nature of its subject, MoAD sees itself as a “collector of stories,” as opposed to a traditional museum. Its approach is embodied in a two-story-high mural in the entryway of the museum, located at 685 Mission St. In the mural, “Face of the African Diaspora,” artist Robert Silvers used more than 2,000 snapshots in a mosaic to recreate photojournalist Chester Higgins Jr.’s striking photograph of a girl from Ghana. From across the street, visitors can appreciate the single image of the girl’s level gaze. Inside the museum, close to the wall, they can examine the photos that comprise the mural. In the future, Bradley hopes to add an audio component to the exhibit, so the individual stories behind each photo can be told.
Bradley’s own story started in small-town Ohio, where her mother raised her and her four brothers after their father died. From public high school, Bradley came to Stanford sight unseen on an academic scholarship. “The only reason my mother allowed me to attend was that my grandmother lived in Oakland,” she says, and while it’s easy to understand her mother’s trepidation, it’s difficult to imagine that the sophisticated Bradley of today ever needed a chaperone.
Bradley majored in economics and communication, but she also got her first exposure to the art world at Stanford. “I’ve always loved artistic things, was always a great reader and had a great imagination and great hunger for art. [But] a lot of my knowledge was self-acquired.”
After earning an MBA from Harvard Business School, Bradley spent 15 years working as a marketing and management executive for companies such as Time Warner and Walt Disney International. When she moved with her then-husband to London, Bradley was recruited by the Southbank Centre, the largest arts venue in Europe, to serve as liaison officer for an exhibition called Africa Remix.
MoAD board member and former board president Belva Davis explains why Bradley emerged as the ideal candidate to serve as executive director. “She was an American who lived in Europe, working on international projects, who embraced the now-proven scientific theory that life began in Africa. . . . Plus she knew the arts world, knew international leaders, understood what the British were doing in elevating the arts in Africa—she seemed like the poster child for carrying this message.”
MoAD’s guiding principle that all humanity is part of the African diaspora poses unusual curatorial challenges. The scope of the museum—encompassing the mid-Atlantic slave trade, the migrations of a host of African tribes and kingdoms, and the cultural mashups that have occurred as African culture took root in the Americas, Europe and Asia—makes providing a comprehensive portrait next to impossible. An early New York Times review by Edward Rothstein suggested that MoAD’s attempt to cover so much ground had resulted in a simplification of the subject matter. But Bradley believes this criticism failed to view MoAD’s work from the proper long-view perspective. “You can’t do everything you want to do at the same time. It’s sort of inviting people to go on the journey with us, seeing how it manifests itself and unfolds.”
MoAD’s exhibits have included a display of more than 4,000 contemporary beaded prayer packets inspired by African amulet traditions and a show by African-born artists who now live in the West. Bradley is especially keen on collaborative shows with other museums and institutions, and MoAD’s latest show (running through September 23) is a multivenue exhibit of contemporary African works from the biennial photography festival in Bamako, Mali. Several photographers from this show have had residencies at community venues throughout San Francisco.
Ken Foster, executive director of the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, has collaborated twice with Bradley—on a book signing by former Black Panther Kathleen Cleaver and on a progressive party called From the West Coast to the Ivory Coast. “Aside from the fact of her amazing wardrobe, which I can’t possibly hope to keep up with,” Foster says, “what I really admire about Denise is that she has a very creative, exciting vision for the organization. The things she’s made happen with very little money are pretty extraordinary. She’s doing things that are provocative and interesting and challenging. Not everyone can do that, and she does it extremely well.”
As well as MoAD’s first year has gone, Bradley has her work cut out for her. “It’s one of those specialized museums that the general public doesn’t understand until they’re educated about it,” says John Buchanan, director of the Fine Arts
Museums of San Francisco. He and Bradley worked together when the de Young
Museum exhibited the dramatic quilts created by women in rural Gee’s Bend, Alabama, and MoAD mounted a complementary exhibit, juxtaposing quilts with similar traditional West African textiles. “Denise’s challenge is spreading the word and encouraging the public, who may not think they’re interested at first. The marketing is the challenge. But she’s certainly up to it. She’s the perfect ambassador.”
With a gesture toward her office windows, Bradley indicates the challenge and opportunities that await MoAD. Outside, workers are busily constructing a new home for the Contemporary Jewish Museum. The Mexican Museum also plans to relocate to this neighborhood, where a so-called museum corridor already includes the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and several other small museums. For Bradley, being situated in this thriving arts community means more opportunities for her signature collaborations. But it also means more fund-raising competition. “There’s a finite donor base, a finite group of key philanthropically supportive individuals,” she admits. While MoAD does not have the expense of collections management, it takes tremendous resources to build and maintain technological archives.
While Bradley’s academic background and professional experience are firmly rooted in business, it’s clear she values the artistic and cultural aspects of her job. “What I’m doing is very much about the art of engagement, in terms of using art to break down barriers and broaden perspectives,” she says. “I wouldn’t have been interested in this institution if the focus wasn’t on humanity.”
Which brings us back to MoAD’s first question. Bradley says she first realized she was African when she lived abroad. “In Europe, people would say, ‘It’s obvious by the way you speak, the way you walk, that you’re American, but where are your people from? It was provocative . . . to realize I was part of yet another, larger, universal group.”
ANGELA WATROUS is a writer in Oakland.
