Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts

The Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts, known as MoCADA, is Brooklyn's first and only contemporary art museum devoted to the art and culture of Africa and its diaspora. Founded in 1999, it operates today from an expanded campus in Brooklyn's Fort Greene neighborhood, with additional programming on Governors Island. MoCADA matters as a pioneering institution that uses visual and performing arts to foreground African diasporic contributions to contemporary culture, while actively serving historically marginalized communities through accessible, community-embedded programming.

Laurie Cumbo established MoCADA in 1999, originating it in a building owned by the historical Bridge Street AWME Church in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. The museum's conceptual framework drew from Cumbo's own Master's thesis in visual arts at New York University. In 2006, MoCADA relocated to a larger space called Culture Lab, situated on the ground floor of the James E. Davis 80 Arts Building at 80 Hanson Place in Fort Greene, a historically Black middle-class neighborhood within Brooklyn's Cultural District. A significant capital project followed: on December 4, 2019, construction began on the L10 Arts and Cultural Center, a new facility designed to house MoCADA alongside branches of the Brooklyn Academy of Music and the Brooklyn Public Library. The original Culture Lab on Hanson Place closed on March 31, 2024, and the new venue, designated Culture Lab II, opened in January 2025. Cumbo led the institution until her election to New York City Council; from 2001 to 2011 she also taught in the Arts and Cultural Management program at Pratt Institute's School of Art & Design.

MoCADA's programming centers on contemporary visual and performing arts that illuminate the artistic production of Africa and its global diaspora. The institution does not function as a traditional collecting museum with a permanent collection in the conventional sense; rather, its strength lies in rotating exhibitions and live programming that address themes of identity, colonialism, resistance, and cultural reclamation. The curatorial approach emphasizes dialogue between visitors and museum staff, treating the museum as a platform rather than a repository. Programming spans sculpture, installation, painting, photography, video, audio, and mixed media, with a consistent emphasis on reasserting Africa and its peoples as foundational to global art development.

Because MoCADA operates primarily as an exhibition and programming venue rather than a traditional collecting institution, its notable "holdings" consist of signature exhibitions and projects rather than a permanent collection. One documented exhibition is "Saying No: Reconciling Spirituality and Resistance in Indigenous Australian Art," curated by Australian artist Bindi Cole. The exhibition brought together sculpture, installation, painting, photography, video, audio, and mixed media works by artists including Tony Albert, Vicki Couzens, Fiona Foley, Daniel Boyd, and Maree Clarke, examining how Indigenous Australian artists deploy contemporary art to resist racism, land theft, and colonialism. The museum has also supported artist residencies and commissions, including through its seasonal Abolition House residency program.

Since 2023, MoCADA has operated across a three-venue expanded campus. Culture Lab II, the flagship facility, occupies 10 Lafayette Avenue in Brooklyn and houses the primary gallery, performance space, gift shop, and cafe. The Ubuntu Garden, located at 48 Lafayette Avenue, functions as a community garden and public art space. The Abolition House, a seasonal art residency, is situated at House 7A Nolan Park on Governors Island. The French Wikipedia source notes that in February 2019, the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission approved MoCADA's proposal to create a sculpture park on the Fort Greene site. The earlier 2019 plans had also envisioned a location at 300 Ashland Place, though the realized campus centers on the Lafayette Avenue corridor.

MoCADA's flagship venue, Culture Lab II, is located at 10 Lafayette Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11217, with the Ubuntu Garden nearby at 48 Lafayette Avenue. The seasonal Abolition House residency operates on Governors Island at House 7A Nolan Park. The museum's website is http://www.mocada.org. MoCADA has sustained active community outreach, including the 2012 Rockefeller Foundation-funded "Public Exchange" program, which brought monthly concerts to NYCHA public housing developments in Fort Greene such as Walt Whitman, Ingersoll, and Farragut, drawing audiences of 500 to 600 people. In 2013, the museum launched "Soul of Brooklyn," a series of block-party style arts events designed to unite the community and promote local businesses. The institution's present role continues to emphasize accessibility and community integration, positioning itself as a museum that exists within its people rather than apart from them.