Exhibition: the MET Museum takes us back to Byzantine Africa

The exhibition explores the tradition of Byzantine art and culture in Africa from the 4th to the 15th centuries, presenting works of art never before seen in the United States.

This exhibition presents works of art from the multicultural Christian communities (Coptic, Greek, Nubian and later Arab) of North and East Africa.

These communities formed the Exarchate of Africa. The Exarchate was a division of the Byzantine Empire that encompassed its possessions in the western Mediterranean, particularly the Maghreb – North Africa beyond Egypt.

Established by Emperor Maurice (the last member of the Justinian dynasty) in the late 580s, the Exarchate was headed by an exarch (a kind of viceroy) and survived until the Muslim conquest of the Maghreb at the end of the seventh century. Together with the Exarchate of Ravenna, the Exarchate of Africa was created under the Emperor Justinian I after the Western Reconquest in order to administer the territories more efficiently.

The exhibition opens on November 19, 2023 and runs until March 3, 2024.

Source: Africa News Agency