The Vilcek Foundation is proud to announce The Coloring Book of African Art Through the Ages, a new collaboration with the Brooklyn Museum and the sixth title in our educational coloring book series.

Since 2020, this series has transformed the simple format of a coloring book into a bridge between scholarship and creative engagement. Each volume distills curatorial insight into accessible drawings, inviting readers to explore art not as decoration, but as a record of human imagination and cultural exchange.

For this edition, Brooklyn Museum curators Ernestine White-Mifetu and Yekaterina Barbash selected more than 60 objects from the museum’s Ancient Egyptian Art and Arts of Africa collections. Spanning over 5,000 years across Egypt, Nigeria, Cameroon, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to regions beyond, these works reveal the extraordinary continuity and diversity of African creativity.

“The Coloring Book of African Art Through the Ages is an important addition to our program,” says Rick Kinsel, president of the Vilcek Foundation. “By ensuring that each illustration preserved the integrity of the original artifact, this coloring book celebrates the influence of African culture across the continent and offers younger audiences a way to connect through learning and making.”

White-Mifetu and Barbash sought to highlight the deep African roots present throughout Egyptian culture, a foundation that is often obscured by Western, art-historical narratives. From the illustrations of the Mwaash aMbooy mask, a royal emblem of wisdom and wealth, to the representations of carved forms and textiles, The Coloring Book of African Art Through the Ages demonstrates the  shared symbols, materials, and spiritual ideas that crossed the deserts and rivers of the continent for millennia. 

To extend this experience beyond the museum walls, the Vilcek Foundation donated 5,000 copies of the book to the Brooklyn Museum’s Museum on Wheels initiative. Housed in an Airstream trailer, the program brings art directly to Brooklyn neighborhoods, partnering with organizations such as Brownsville Heritage House, NYU Langone Hospital, The Laundromat Project, and Black Girls Sew.

Grounded in the foundation’s mission to champion excellence, understanding, and access in the arts, this project embodies our belief that beauty and knowledge should be shared widely.The Coloring Book of African Art Through the Ages is available for purchase on Amazon.