The exhibition is open in New York City’s Museum of Arts and Design through May 15. Seen here is Douriean Fletcher’s “Messenger” collection from 2021, which uses gold and semi-precious stones. (Image credit: Brittany Johnson)
New York—The Museum of Arts and Design (MAD) has opened an exhibition dedicated to jewelry artist Douriean Fletcher.
“Douriean Fletcher: Jewelry of the Afrofuture” is an exhibition showcasing the jewelry designer’s work, from her beginning as a self-taught metalsmith to becoming an influential designer for films like Marvel’s “Black Panther.”
Fletcher’s jewelry, crafted with brass, gold, and semi-precious stones, are sculptural adornments that explore Afrofuturism, Black identity, and the cultural connections between African and African American jewelry traditions.
The exhibition showcases her vision of art as a bridge uniting communities and histories divided by colonialism and oppression, said MAD.
“To me, Afrofuturism means putting me, or one who identifies as Black or African, in the middle of their own story—removing Eurocentric ideals and beliefs and really putting themselves in the middle of their fashion, their décor, their story, their identity, their religion, their spiritual beliefs, and finding strength in that,” said Fletcher.
The 2021 “Messenger” collection with gold and semi-precious stones (Image credit: Brittany Johnson)
The exhibition features three sections with more than 150 items on display, including process sketches, behind-the-scenes imagery of Fletcher working, and 75 pieces crafted by Fletcher.
It begins with Fletcher’s formative years and studio practice, then moves to her breakout film and television work before concluding with her current artistic explorations, which includes her collection for Bergdorf Goodman.
Works she designed for major motion pictures like “Black Panther” and “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” are included.
While working on “Black Panther” in 2016, Fletcher became the first jeweler to be granted membership by the Motion Picture Costumer Union, IATSE Local 705.
An installation in the “Douriean Fletcher: Jewelry of the Afrofuture” exhibit at MAD (Image credit: Jenna Bascom and courtesy of the Museum of Arts and Design)
MAD said that Fletcher’s practice exemplifies the ethos of Afrofuturism, a cultural movement that reclaims Black identity and history while envisioning egalitarian futures.
“My work channels Afrofuturism by honoring ancestral technologies while imagining new futures through adornment,” said Fletcher.
“Each piece is an energetic portal, rooted in a desire to remain connected to African cosmologies and designed to activate personal power, spiritual memory, and liberation across time.”
Her work is inspired by the storytelling traditions of Zulu beadwork, the ornate beauty of ancient Egyptian adornment, and the innovation of African American jewelers. She also explores the use of symbolism in spiritual practice, reimagining new talismanic forms.
Throughout the exhibit, Fletcher’s work and how it explores and materializes ideas of Afrofuturism is documented.
It highlights her research into African and African American jewelry design and her efforts to build aesthetic and cultural bridges between Black communities, countries, continents, and histories torn apart by colonialism, slavery, and oppression, said MAD.
Related stories will be right here …
“Douriean Fletcher: Jewelry of the Afrofuture” was co-curated by Sebastian Grant, a professor and design historian, and Barbara Paris Gifford, the senior curator of contemporary art, craft, and design at MAD.
The exhibition debuted earlier this month and will be open through May 15.
At a luncheon held last week to celebrate the exhibition, guests enjoyed a close look at the exhibition’s centerpiece, a breastplate created for Angela Bassett’s character, Queen Ramonda, in the film “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.”
“It was important to me to put as many stones on this breastplate as possible, because in media and film, we don’t see Africans wearing their own resources,” said Fletcher.
“I wanted to really show the beauty of these semi-precious stones [mined] in Africa and see an African queen wearing her own resource.”
Access to the exhibit is included with museum admission. General admission tickets are $20.
MAD is located in the Jerome and Simona Chazen Building at 2 Columbus Circle in New York City.
For more information on Fletcher’s exhibit, visit the MAD website.
