Women of Afrofuturism

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
CONTACT: Charles Schuler
Director of Marketing & Communications
San Francisco International Airport
(650) 821-5031
Charles.Schuler@flysfo.com
SF-25-18

Women of Afrofuturism

New exhibition celebrates the women of Afrofuturism who continually imagine inclusive, joyful, and luminous futures for Black people while simultaneously addressing present issues and past injustices.

SAN FRANCISCO Afrofuturism, an artistic and sociopolitical liberation movement, examines the past, questions the present, and reimagines the futures of Black people. Afrofuturism explores the Black experience through a combination of science fiction, magical realism, mythology, history, and technology in genres ranging from literature and music to fashion, film, and visual arts. Long before the term Afrofuturism existed, visionary Black women served as spearheads of the movement, such as Katherine Johnson and other Black female "computers" whose calculations at NASA helped launch rockets and astronauts into space in the 1960s. Author Octavia Butler, the first nationally recognized African American woman science fiction writer, published her novel Patternmaster in 1976, paving the way for a host of Black women speculative fiction writers working today. At the same time, women, such as legendary jazz musician Alice Coltrane explored universal consciousness in the 1970s.

Artwork by Oakland-based filmmaker and artist Celia C. Peters, Boston-based digital artist Nettrice Gaskins, and interdisciplinary artist Alisha B. Wormsley, who created the THERE ARE BLACK PEOPLE IN THE FUTURE billboards, are on view alongside futuristic fashion designs by San Francisco native Afatasi the Artist and artist and professor D. Denenge Duyst-Akpem.

A very special thank you to curatorial consultant Ingrid LaFleur for her assistance with this exhibition.

Visit sfomuseum.org for more information.

@SFOMuseum
#WomenofAfrofuturism

Women of Afrofuturism is located post-security in Harvey Milk Terminal 1 of the San Francisco International Airport. This exhibition is accessible from May, 11 2025-September 27, 2026 to ticketed passengers, and through prior arrangement by emailing curator@flysfo.com.

About SFO Museum

Established in 1980 by the San Francisco Airport Commission, SFO Museum's mission is to delight, engage, and inspire a global audience with programming on a broad range of subjects; to collect, preserve, interpret, and share the history of commercial aviation; and to enrich the public experience at San Francisco International Airport. The Museum has been accredited by the American Alliance of Museums since 1999 and retains the distinction of being the only accredited museum in an airport.

SFO Museum operates more than twenty-five sites throughout the Airport terminals, including fourteen galleries that exhibit a rotating schedule of art, history, photography, science, and cultural exhibitions. Among the sites is the San Francisco Airport Commission Aviation Library and Louis A. Turpen Aviation Museum, which houses a permanent collection of more than 160,000 objects related to the history of commercial aviation. To browse current and past exhibitions, research our collection, or for more information, please visit www.sfomuseum.org. Follow us on www.facebook.com/sfomuseum, www.x.com/sfomuseum, or www.instagram.com/sfomuseum.

About San Francisco International Airport (SFO)

SFO is committed to providing an extraordinary airport experience, with seamless access, thoughtful amenities, sustainable design and inspiring artwork and exhibits.

For up-to-the-minute departure and arrival information, airport maps, and details on shopping, dining, cultural exhibitions, ground transportation and more, visit www.flysfo.com. Follow us on www.x.com/flysfo and www.facebook.com/flysfo.