DOURIEAN FLETCHER: JEWELRY OF THE AFROFUTURE

This fall, the Museum of Arts and Design (MAD) opens a portal to another realm of beauty and belonging. Douriean Fletcher: Jewelry of the Afrofuture - on view thru March 15, 2026 - is the first major museum exhibition to celebrate the groundbreaking artist and metalsmith whose sculptural adornments have transformed both fashion and film.

With over 150 works on view, the exhibition traces Fletcher’s evolution from self-taught jeweler to a visionary whose handmade pieces have defined some of the most powerful aesthetics in contemporary cinema – from the television mini-series Roots to Coming 2 America to Black Panther and Wakanda Forever. Her wearable sculptures- crafted in brass, gold, shells, and semi-precious stones - speak in the language of lineage and liberation.

“My work channels Afrofuturism by honoring ancestral technologies while imagining new futures through adornment,” Fletcher says. Each piece, she explains, is an energetic portal - a vessel for memory, transformation, and spiritual power.

The exhibition unfolds in three sweeping movements: Fletcher’s early studio years; her celebrated work for film and television; and her newest designs, including her recent collaboration with Bergdorf Goodman. Highlights include the stunning jewelry worn by Queen Ramonda and the Dora Milaje - displayed alongside Ruth E. Carter’s Oscar-winning costumes -which reveal how adornment shapes identity, narrative, and sovereignty on screen.

Co-curated by design historian Sebastian Grant and MAD Senior Curator Barbara Paris Gifford, Jewelry of the Afrofuture connects Fletcher’s practice to a broader constellation of Black makers and global traditions - from Maasai beadwork to ancient Egyptian goldsmithing, from Art Smith to Alexander Calder. Fletcher’s creations exist somewhere between armor and amulet, merging craft, history, and the speculative imagination into a radical act of beauty.

Visitors will also find a vibrant calendar of public programs - from beading workshops to film screenings and artist talks - that invite audiences to explore jewelry as both personal and political language. In Fletcher’s hands, metal becomes mythology, and every curve, clasp, and cut carries the pulse of a future already in motion.

Photos:  Douriean Fletcher, Messenger Collection, gold and semi-precious stones, c. 2021. Photos by Brittany Johnson.

Black Panther and Wakanda Forever movie moments.

3rd photo:  Installation view of Douriean Fletcher: Jewelry of the Afrofuture at the Museum of Arts and Design, New York, NY. Photo: Jenna Bascom; courtesy the Museum of Arts and Design. Photo by Jenna Bascom.