The Metropolitan Museum of Art will open back up this Saturday, August 29, after nearly six months of being closed due to COVID-19.
It will bring many brand new elements, of course — like face masks, reserved tickets, and temperature checks — but also the first-ever artist-designed banners for the building facade!
The space previously showcased or announced exhibitions that could be found inside, but now they display a new work of art by none other than renowned multimedia artist Yoko Ono.
The banners are simple black and white, and display the words “Dream Together.”
Yoko said: “When we dream together, we create a new reality. The world is suffering terribly, but we are together, even if it can be hard to see at times, and our only way through this crisis will be together. Each one of us has the power to change the world. Remember love. DREAM TOGETHER.”
“Yoko Ono’s work for The Met and for New York is an urgent, poetic message of unity, positivity, and aspiration,” said Max Hollein, Director of the Museum. “As the world begins to slowly emerge from this unprecedented time of distress, uncertainty, and isolation, and as important calls to action are happening and being heard throughout the U.S., Yoko’s DREAM TOGETHER invites fellow New Yorkers to honor the challenges, the suffering, and the loss by inspiring hope and acknowledging connection.”
The banners sit alongside four new bronze sculptures by Wangechi Mutu, called The New Ones, will free Us (2019), to “create a meaningful presentation of contemporary art on the Museum’s Beaux-Arts facade.”
New exhibits that will open on Saturday also include Making the Met: 1870–2020, which traces the history of the museum over 150 years, and the highly-anticipated annual rooftop garden commission.
If you’re planning a visit this weekend, read more about the new health and safety protocols here.
featured image source: Instagram / @lifethroughsarahslens