“We had come on faith, not knowing what was going to happen, but all the artists from 
all the countries had one thing in common: we wanted it to be a success, we wanted to 
be all together in one place at least once in our lifetimes. And we did it.”
Roy Lewis

 —[September 28, 2023] – GRAY is pleased to announce So Be It! Asé! Photographic Echoes of FESTAC ’77: Roy Lewis, K. Kofi Moyo, Bob Crawford. Curated by Romi Crawford, the exhibition unveils visual documentation of one of the most significant, yet lesser known, cultural events of the twentieth century: the Second World Black and African Festival of Arts and Culture, held in Lagos, Nigeria. Known as FESTAC, this Pan-African festival, which convened in early 1977, brought together around 17,000 artists from African countries and Black diaspora communities across the world. The exhibition draws from the archives of Roy Lewis, Bob Crawford, and K. Kofi Moyo, three members of the United States delegation to FESTAC.

Members of the Black Arts Movement in Chicago, Lewis, Crawford, and Moyo each embarked on careers of documenting momentous social and political developments. Lewis started his career as a freelance photographer for publications such as Jet and Ebony, and recorded the historic 1974 match between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman in Zaire. Bob Crawford documented black life on the city’s South Side throughout the 1960s and 70s. Photojournalist K. Kofi Moyo’s extensive archive of street photography and photojournalism chronicles some of the most pivotal moments of the period, including the Chicago uprising after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. As curator, Crawford is “interested in placing these archives side by side, staging the related subject matter and happenings that resonate between them.”

Nigeria, bolstered by oil wealth, modeled FESTAC on the World Festival of Black Arts, held in Dakar, Senegal, in 1966. A more expansive and ambitious program held over twenty-nine days, FESTAC gathered delegations from dozens of countries in Africa, as well as from Brazil, India, the Caribbean, and beyond. Painters, sculptors, dancers, fashion designers, ceramicists, and musicians were assembled, including artists and thinkers such as Faith Ringgold, Audre Lorde, and Stevie Wonder. Photographic Echoes of FESTAC ’77 includes photos of the US delegation’s travel to Nigeria; the Olympic-style parade that marked the opening of FESTAC; intimate gatherings, planning meetings, and social events; Lagos’s contemporary architecture, and performances, including the Kano Durbar, a ceremonial, mounted equestrian parade, are all highlighted.



The exhibition will be held at GRAY New York, 1018 Madison Avenue, Floor 2, from October 26, through December 22, 2023. A public reception will take place on Thursday, October 26, from 6-8 PM ET. Photographic Echoes of FESTAC ’77 will travel to GRAY Chicago in 2024.