This NYC Exhibit Is Paying Homage to Hip-Hop’s 50th Anniversary

By Ruth Etiesit Samuel, Huffington Post

The year 2023 marks the 50th anniversary of hip hop, a music genre, culture and social movement that has become a global phenomenon. Fotografiska New York’s latest exhibit, “Hip Hop: Conscious, Unconscious,” seeks to honor its rich history through visual storytelling, chronicling images of the everyday people, individual creatives and women trailblazers that have shaped hip-hop culture.

Curated by Mass Appeal’s chief creative officer Sacha Jenkins and photo editor and visual director Sally Berman, the two-floor exhibition features over 200 photographs since hip-hop was born in the Bronx, New York, in 1973. The exhibit launched on Jan. 26, and Jenkins describes it as a “Herculean effort” sparked by a conversation with a former colleague.

“I was a writer and editor at Vibe Magazine and worked with a woman named Martine Bury, who today works at NeueHouse, which is also affiliated with Fotografiska,” Jenkins said. “They had a desire to do something of this nature, so she reached out to me… and I thought it was a fantastic idea. I then involved Mass Appeal and Sally, who was our photo editor for a time.”

“Hip Hop: Conscious, Unconscious” showcases the most prominent names of hip-hop’s past and present, including Tupac, N.W.A., Outkast, Lil’ Kim, Missy Elliott, Megan Thee Stallion and many others. Categorized primarily by eras and regions — the East Coast, West Coast and the South — Jenkins and Berman sought to ensure a holistic retelling of hip-hop’s history as they began sourcing images and enlisting photographers, from Sam Balaban to veteran Kenneth Cappello and others.

Learn more about this exhibit and how you can see it.

Black music has been featured in museums recently.

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