The Metropolitan Museum of Art has announced the appointment of Oluremi C. Onabanjo as Curator in the Department of Photographs, following a comprehensive international search conducted over several months. Onabanjo joins The Met from The Museum of Modern Art, where she currently serves as The Peter Schub Curator in the Robert B. Menschel Department of Photography. Onabanjo’s appointment underscores The Met’s expanding global vision for photography and its role within the future Tang Wing for Modern and Contemporary Art.
In her role as Curator at The Met, she will develop exhibitions, acquisitions, and scholarship in twentieth century and contemporary photography as well as time-based media, with an emphasis on international practices, particularly in Africa and Asia. Onabanjo will help lead the stewardship and interpretation of the Walther Collection—a landmark gift of over 6,500 photographs, albums, and works of time-based media—including a major exhibition planned for 2028, while working collaboratively across the Museum to expand the presentation of photography within a broader, interconnected narrative of art. In close collaboration with colleagues across the Museum, she will contribute to projects that extend beyond the boundaries of medium and department, advancing new and holistic approaches to the presentation of art across cultures and time.
I am honored to join The Met at such a dynamic moment as it looks ahead to the future of Photography in the Museum. The Met’s extraordinary collection and its commitment to presenting art across cultures and time offer a powerful context for rethinking the histories of photography. I look forward to contributing to the Department’s work and to engaging new audiences with the medium.”
Oluremi C. Onabanjo
Oluremi C. Onabanjo is among the most compelling voices in contemporary photography today. Her scholarship and curatorial vision reflect a deep engagement with the histories of the medium and a thoughtful approach to the ways photography shapes our understanding of the world. As we look toward the future of art at The Met—including the development of the Oscar L. and H.M. Agnes Hsu-Tang Wing — Onabanjo’s perspective will be invaluable in advancing a more expansive and globally connected narrative of art, fostering new dialogues across departments, cultures, and time.”
Max Hollein, Marina Kellen French Director and Chief Executive Officer, The Met
She joins the Department at a pivotal moment as the Museum advances key institutional initiatives, including the development of Tang Wing for Modern and Contemporary Art, opening in 2030. In this context, photography will continue to play an important role in shaping how art from the late nineteenth century to the present is presented across the Museum’s galleries. This appointment reflects a broader institutional commitment to expanding the narratives through which art of the late nineteenth century to the present is presented. She will begin at The Met later this summer.
Onabanjo brings a remarkable depth of knowledge and a rigorous approach to the study of photography. Her work reflects a nuanced understanding of the medium’s histories and its global trajectories, as well as a strong commitment to expanding the collection in meaningful and enduring ways. We look forward to the perspectives she will bring to the Department and to the Museum as a whole.”Jeff Rosenheim, The Met’s Curator in Charge of the Department of Photographs
