Born in Ethiopia, Henone K. Girm is leaving the Africa Center in Harlem, where she worked as a programme manager, to join the Newark Museum of Art in New Jersey. Her new appointment was announced on Monday 3 January and she officially took up her post on the same day.
The Newark Museum of Art, located in Newark, Essex County, New Jersey, is the largest museum in the state of New Jersey. It has fine collections of American art, decorative arts, contemporary art, and art from Asia, Africa, the Americas and the ancient world. Catherine Evans, Deputy Director of Collections and Curatorial Strategies at the Newark Museum of Art, said, “After a national search for this important curatorial position, we are very pleased that Henone is joining our team. She brings a wealth of experience and inclusive perspectives to the museum, drawing on her range of projects.
Henone K. Girma is making her return to the Newark Museum of Art, where she worked from 2017 to 2019 as the Andrew W. Mellon Research Associate at the museum. During her tenure, she contributed to the publication “The Newark Museum Collection: Arts of Global Africa,” which documents the collection for which she is now responsible. Henone K. Girma said, “I am delighted to return to the Newark Museum of Art and honored to be entrusted with the management of its prestigious Arts of Global Africa collection. The opportunity to continue the remarkable work of my predecessors is both a great privilege and a personal challenge. My goal is to create dynamic ways to present the museum’s vast art collections on the complex continent from which I hail in order to appeal to visitors from Newark and beyond.
The Africa Center
Henone K. Girma started at the Africa Center in Harlem in 2019, where she served as program coordinator and program manager. The Africa Center’s ambition is to transform the world’s understanding of Africa, its diaspora and the role of people of African descent in the world. The Center aims to serve as a hub for the exchange of ideas on culture, business and policy related to the continent, and in a spirit of collaboration and engagement with individuals and institutions that share the Center’s values.
Prior to joining the Africa Center, Henone K. Girma was a program assistant at the College Art Association, the leading organization in the U.S. of visual arts professionals, from students to art historians to emeritus faculty. Henone K. Girma worked primarily on the CAA’s annual conference. She also interned in the interpretation programs at the Museum of Arts and Design in New York.
Independent curator
In addition to her institutional positions, Henone K. Girma has been an independent curator for over five years. Her work has included collaborations with Art in FLUX Harlem, the Northern Manhattan Arts Alliance, and as an associate curator for the exhibition “ReSignifications”, organized by NYU Florence and presented in 2018 at Manifesta 12, the European Biennale of Contemporary Art in Palermo, Italy.
Henone K. Girma Girma holds a degree in International Business with a minor in French from the University of Texas at Arlington and a Master’s Degree in Visual Arts Management from New York University, with a focus on nonprofit organizations.
