Previously On View
Ekow Eshun: Black Earth Rising
Date
May 18, 2025 - September 21, 2025
Overview
Named by The New York Times and ESSENCE magazine as a must-see exhibition!
See nature’s beauty and power through the eyes of today’s leading artists.
Organized by guest curator and renowned author Ekow Eshun, this exhibition of 22 works explores today’s climate crisis from a new perspective and celebrates our shared connections to the natural world.
Among the artists featured are:
- Firelei Báez
- Alejandro Piñeiro Bello
- Frank Bowling
- Teresita Fernández
- Todd Gray
- Sky Hopinka
- Tyler Mitchell
- Jamal R. Moore
- Wangechi Mutu
- Otobong Nkanga
- Jaune Quick-to-See Smith
- Yinka Shonibare
- Alberta Whittle
The show takes its title from terra preta, Portuguese for “black earth,” which refers to a type of fertile soil created by ancient Indigenous civilizations in the Amazon basin thousands of years ago. Recently rediscovered by scientists, it remains more fertile than ordinary land.
A companion book, featuring 100 works of art, is available at the BMA Shop, where BMA Members always save 10%.
Presented as part of the Turn Again to the Earth environmental initiative.
Select Artworks in this Exhibition
Archive Gallery Images
Ekow Eshun
Guest Curator
"Guest curated by British writer and curator Ekow Eshun with support from Katie Cooke, BMA Manager of Curatorial Affairs"
Free Admissions Offers
Become a BMA Member
Join today and enjoy free admission to Black Earth Rising.
Blue Star Museums
The BMA joins over 2,000 museums participating in the Blue Star Museums program by offering free admission to Black Earth Rising for active-duty U.S. military and their families through September 21 to allow free admission for the entire run of the ticketed show. Get tickets online or in person.
College Night: Turn Again to the Earth
Students are invited to enjoy free tickets to Black Earth Rising for the 6:15, 7:00, and 7:45 p.m. entry times on Thursday, September 18. Valid college ID required. Learn more & register.
Sponsored By
Black Earth Rising is supported by Nancy Dorman and Stanley Mazaroff, the Hardiman Family Endowment Fund, The Dorman/Mazaroff Art Exhibition Fund, Baltimore Gas and Electric, the Sigmund M. and Mary B. Hyman Fund for American Art, The Clair Zamoiski Segal and Thomas H. Segal Contemporary Art Endowment Fund, the Wolf Kahn Foundation, the Victor J. Schenk Trust, and The Cowles Charitable Trust
Images: Alejandro Piñeiro Bello. Viajando En La Franja Del Iris. 2024. Private Collection. © Alejandro Piñeiro Bello, courtesy Pace Gallery and KDR. Photo: courtesy Pace Gallery
Installation shots of Black Earth Rising
Location
Special Exhibition Galleries
Special Exhibition Galleries
Catalogue
Black Earth Rising: Colonialism and Climate Change in Contemporary Art
A vibrant contemporary art anthology that explores the complex ties between race, climate crisis, and colonialism by over 150 leading artists of African diasporic, Latin American, and Native American identity.
Works by over 150 contemporary artists are presented in three thematic sections: Reckoning, Reimagining, and Reclaiming. Complex and intertwined concepts are explored: forced migration and slavery, the environmental consequences of colonialism, the occupation of Native lands, the urban plight of Black and Brown communities, and how cultural practices and knowledge systems of indigenous peoples can change our perspectives of the natural world.
Compelling and thought-provoking, Black Earth Rising presents a discourse around climate change that situates the voices of people of color at the active center rather than on the passive periphery, and expands our understanding of aesthetic perspectives on climate change through artworks that reach to the poetic and lyrical rather than the didactic.
Videos
Exhibition Video 1
Black Earth Rising on View Through September 21
Selected by The New York Times and Essence magazine as a must-see exhibition, this group show explores the beauty and power of nature through paintings, sculptures, films, and works on paper.
Exhibition Video 2
Yinka Shonibare’s Earth Kids Sculptures in Black Earth Rising
Watch as Ekow Eshun, guest curator of Black Earth Rising, describes them—Fire Kid (Boy), Earth Kid (Girl) II, Air Kid (Boy), and Water Kid (Boy)—in this group exhibition that explores today’s climate crisis from a new perspective.
Exhibition Video 3
Firelei Báez Centers a Mythological Trickster Figure in Black Earth Rising
The two paintings by artist Firelei Báez on view in Black Earth Rising center the ciguapa, a mythological female trickster figure from Dominican folklore. Get an up-close look as guest curator Ekow Eshun tells us more!
Exhibition Video 4
Tyler Mitchell Photographs Black Presence in the South
“These photographs aren’t trying to erase a past. They’re trying to suggest that a future can be nuanced.” -Ekow Eshun, guest curator of Black Earth Rising In works by Tyler Mitchell, the South emerges as a complex landscape—both a sanctuary and a site of historical trauma.
Exhibition Video 5
Frank Bowling's Map Paintings in Black Earth Rising
Discover 22 powerful works by some of today’s most influential artists, including Frank Bowling’s iconic map paintings series, created between 1968 and 1971. Guest curator Ekow Eshun highlights how Frank Bowling reimagined global geography by centering the Southern Hemisphere—challenging Western-centric worldviews and reflecting his journey as a Caribbean emigrant to the UK and US.
Press
Press Contacts
Anne Brown
Baltimore Museum of Art
Senior Director of Communications
abrown@artbma.org
410-274-9907
Sarah Pedroni
Baltimore Museum of Art
Communications Manager
spedroni@artbma.org
410-428-4668
Alina Sumajin
PAVE Communications
alina@paveconsult.com
646-369-2050
Press Clippings
- The New York Times – A Guide to U.S. Museums to See This Year (22/04/2025)
- WYPR Radio – Black Earth Rising reclaims connections to the Natural World (27/05/2025)
- ESSENCE – The Must-See Art Exhibitions To Experience This Summer(04/06/2025)
- Bmore Art – Black Earth Rising: Ekow Eshun’s Stunning Exhibit at the BMA (23/06/2025)
- The Baltimore Banner – Don’t miss these new exhibits(27/06/2025)
- The Art Newspaper – At Baltimore Museum of Art, a new exhibition asks us to consider the connections between race, colonialism and the climate crisis(02/07/2025)
- Artforum – Ekow Eshun: On the curatorial vision behind “Black Earth Rising”(11/08/2025)
Related Events
Upcoming Events
Thursday, September 18 | 6-8:30 p.m.
College Night: Turn Again to the Earth
Sunday, September 21 | 2-3:45 p.m.
Jamal Moore: Black Earth Rising Closing Performance
…
Past Events
Friday, May 16-Saturday, May 17 | 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
Sunday, May 18 | 9-11 a.m.
Black Earth Rising Members Breakfast Preview
Sunday, May 18 | 11:30 a.m.-4 p.m.
Community Day: Turn Again to the Earth
Sunday, May 18 | 6-8 p.m.
Thursday, June 5
Free Admission on World Environment Day
Friday, June 20 | 8-11 p.m.
Art After Hours: Summer Solstice
Thursday, June 26
Thursday, July 24 | 5-8 p.m.
Thursday, July 24