The performance was part of the programming around the museum’s landmark exhibition, Afro-Atlantic Histories, where When We Gather’s creator, María Magdalena Campos-Pons’ work is being presented. Not only was this the first time When We Gather was performed live, as Campos-Pons had initially envisioned, but it was also the first time the NGA commissioned a performance art piece.

In addition to having seven artists perform movements that symbolize the cleansing of institutions and honoring ancestors, Campos-Pons also invited student musicians from the Duke Ellington School of the Arts and the Maret School to take part in the performance.

The performance was made possible by major support from the Phyllis & Jerome Lyle Rappaport Foundation and a grant from the Alice L. Walton Foundation. Additional generous support was provided by the Carl M. Freeman Foundation, Craig and Kathryn Hall, and Leah R. Bennett.

The full credit list of the performance can be found below: