The Louis Armstrong House Museum in Queens opened a new exhibit, Armstrong in Ghana, on Oct. 1. This exhibition features 60,000 artifacts, recordings, photos, and documents related to Armstrong’s 1950s and 1960s world tour, centering on his time in Ghana.
During his tour, Armstrong found a strong sense of community in Ghana in particular. At the time, the country was newly independent from the United Kingdom and was developing a national culture all its own. In creating this exhibit, curator Regina Bain sought to explore and express how Armstrong experienced his visit to Ghana during this transitional period.
Beyond the historical artifacts included, the year-long exhibition will feature musical performances and visual art displays. Contemporary musicians and artists will bring their work to the Louis Armstrong House Museum and to Accra, Ghana. The scheduled musical performers include Chief Adjuah, Keweku Sumbry, and The Ghana Jazz Collective.
Expanding on the exhibition’s themes and ideas, a series of panel talks and workshops will help audiences dive deeper into Armstrong’s time in Ghana. Among many other experiences, guests will have the opportunity to listen to the live recording from Armstrong’s 1956 concert at the Accra Opera House.
Armstrong in Ghana will also display works of visual art by Kaloki Nyamai, Aaron Douglas, John Biggers, and many more. In addition, new commissioned pieces by artists Stephen Towns and Rita Mawuena Benissan will debut throughout the exhibition. These artworks will explore the cultural and political impact of Armstrong’s time in Ghana.
Curator Regina Bain expressed her hope that guests visiting this exhibition “will make their own connections, conduct their own archival sleuthing, stand in front of a work of art, listen to glorious sound, or dance into a new understanding of Louis Armstrong’s legacy and how independence and freedom lives within them.”
After the exhibition closes in New York, it is scheduled for display in fall 2027 at the Nubuke Foundation, a Ghanaian contemporary art and cultural institution. For more information on the exhibit, visit the Louis Armstrong House Museum’s website.
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