The African American Museum in Philadelphia recently announced that it will launch a new exhibit celebrating the collection of actor CCH Pounder.
Titled “Shared Vision: Portraits from The CCH Pounder-Koné Collection” and scheduled from Sep. 14 to March 2, 2025, the exhibition features approximately 40 select pieces of art that Pounder has in her possession. Primarily characterized as Contemporary Art, the pieces will also include traditional African sculptures.
The 40 works of art are among more than 500 in Pounder’s possession.
With works featured on expressing Black figures and identity, artists on display range from established artists such as Samella Lewis and Bisa Butler to newer names on the rise such as Alex Peter Idoko and Luke Agada.
For opening day, the AAMP will host an event in which Pounder will be featured in conversation to talk about her collection and the works set to be on display.
“I am so pleased to be sharing these curated pieces from my collection with the African American Museum in Philadelphia,” said Pounder per a local newspaper Metro Philadelphia. “The collaboration with AAMP of selecting the works for this exhibit has been a creative partnership of a ‘shared vision’ to feature distinct artists from around the world. It excites me to see how these images will move, inspire, and provide insight for thought-provoking interactions between generations of all ages.”
Although primarily known as an actor and for roles in media such as Avatar, All That Jazz and the Emmy-nominated The Shield TV show, Pounder studied painting while at Hastings College of Arts and Technology. Throughout the years, she’s continued her work with her own paintings and jewelry.
Overall, Pounder has been heralded for her passion for visual arts, particularly those stemming from artists of the African Diaspora.
In 1993, the actor and her husband, Boubacar Koné, also founded the Musee Boribana. Considered to be the first privately owned museum for art in Dakar, Senegal, the Musee Boribana is still currently considered to be the only museum to celebrate modern African art, supporting local Senegalese artists and showing off the works of other artists of the African Diaspora.
The museum was gifted to the nation in 2014 shortly before Koné passed away.
“More than collecting, the way an artist sees fascinates me. An artwork is an interpretation of life from an emotional or intellectual or ancestral or spiritual inspiration that is translated onto the canvas, or hewn in wood, bent in steel, blown in glass, beaded, or collaged,” said Pounder when asked why she loves collecting per Artnet. “Being able to feast one’s eyes on these gestures is why I collect and share with those who may only see… an image.”
