A major Princeton exhibition traces creative lineages across Africa and its diasporas through the enduring language of ceramics.
21 July 2026
Clay is both material and archive, carrying histories of place, labour, ancestry and knowledge across generations. At the Princeton University Art Museum, ‘Clay Has Memory: Creative Lineages from Africa’ brings together 45 vessels and sculptures by 35 historical, modern and contemporary artists. Spanning Africa and its diasporas, the exhibition considers how ceramic practices preserve cultural inheritance while producing new forms, meanings and artistic possibilities.
Organised across four thematic sections devoted to raw material, genealogies of labour, memorial and monument, the exhibition places celebrated contemporary artists in conversation with earlier and, in some cases, unnamed makers. Works by Adebunmi Gbadebo, Theaster Gates, Magdalene Odundo, Zizipho Poswa, Leilah Babirye and Etiyé Dimma Poulsen, alongside Kwabena Ampofo Anti, Demas Nwoko and members of the multigenerational Nala family, reveal the breadth of these creative lineages.
Curated by Perrin Lathrop, ‘Clay Has Memory’ explores the knowledge embedded in ceramic practice, the historically overlooked contributions of women makers, and how the exhibition unsettles established distinctions between art and craft.
This exhibition is on view at the Princeton University Art Museum until July 3, 2027.
