CultureFest! (led by The Colored Girls Museum)

Celebrates Diversity Within Africa & Among African Diasporic Cultures

PHILADELPHIA – Developed in partnership with The Colored Girls Museum, the Penn Museum will unite contemporary and traditional cultural practices across Africa and the African Diaspora with CultureFest!, Saturday, May 4 from 1:00– 8:00 pm.

Part of the CultureFest! series, this event doubles as a prelude to the unveiling of the Penn Museum’s new suite of Africa Galleries later this year. Currently, the Penn Museum’s Africa Galleries are being renovated; the reimagined galleries will open to the public on November 16.

In the afternoon, families can explore cultural connections and continuities through:

• mask-making for all ages
• interactive storytelling workshop for kids 3+ who like to sing and dance
• “amazing race” for families/scavenger hunt through the Penn Museum’s collections
• film screening
• live musical performances, including drumming from Drum Like a Lady, a non-profit collective whose mission is to provide safe and healing spaces for people to express their uniqueness through collective drumming, dance, music education, and health advocacy
• Ursula Rucker, an interdisciplinary poet, performer, and recording artist
• an African-inspired marketplace
• Penn Museum tours, and much more.

These activities are included with Museum admission.

After 5:00, CultureFest! continues with adult-focused programs, including cocktails, a fashion show, performances from spoken-word artists from Theatre in the X, the rock/soul of Blakbushe and the Performance Curator and Associate Director of The Colored Girls Museum, DJ Ian Friday until 8:00 pm. Admission is $15 and supports the Penn Museum’s public programs.

Located in Germantown, The Colored Girls Museum’s current exhibition is “In Search of the Colored Girl.” Open Sundays from 12:00 – 4:00 pm and by special appointment, it shares the stories and artifacts of “ordinary” colored girls.