France/2024—directed by Raoul Peck | 105 min.

Ernest Cole, one of South Africa's first Black freelance photographers, captured images that shocked the world by exposing the brutal realities of apartheid. Forced into exile in 1966, Cole continued his work in the U.S., documenting life in New York City and the American South—two places that alternated between stark contrasts and unsettling parallels to the segregation of his homeland. 

At just 27, Cole cemented his legacy with the groundbreaking photobook House of Bondage, showcasing his extraordinary talent and courage. In Raoul Peck's compelling documentary, Cole’s story is brought to life through his writings and photographs, including 60,000 long-lost negatives discovered in a Swedish bank vault in 2017.

“More than a great photographer, Ernest Cole captured something essential.” –Owen Gleiberman, Variety

Join us for the closing event for Tiff Massey’s celebrated exhibition, 7 Mile + Livernois, on May 9, 2025 from 6:30–9:30 p.m.! 

Get a last look at Massey’s exhibition before it closes to the public on May 11, 2025, and dance under the stars on the Woodward Avenue Plaza during special performances from Detroit-based DJs KESSWA and Donavan Glover.

Cash bar available.

DJ sets will not be seated.

Schedule

Exhibition open all day, starting at 10:00 a.m. Last entry at 9:00 p.m.

DJ experience: 6:30 - 9:30 p.m. Last entry at 9:00 p.m. Approx. Set times:

• Donavan Glover: 6:30 - 8 p.m.
• DJ KESSWA: 8 - 9:30 p.m. 

Advanced registration is now CLOSED.   Only guests who are pre-registered may enter the outside DJ performance area from Woodward Avenue.  Guests needing to check-in without registration, including DIA members and residents of Wayne, Oakland, and Macomb counties, must do so at the Farnsworth or John R entrances and enter the DJ performance area from inside the museum through the Woodward Avenue door.  

Admittance to DJ area, exhibition, and dining venues will be subject to capacity limits.  

Click here for information on dining, parking, and museum admission.

Additional self-parking is located at WSU Rackham Structure (45 E. Warren), and WSU Welcome Center (61 Putman).  Debit and Credit cards accepted, no cash. For information on parking fees at Wayne State University visit their website.

About the performers

Detroit native Kesiena Wanogho didn’t really get to hear the music she wanted on the local scene, and her longing for a calming and grounding element within electronic music soon turned into her mission. DJ Kesswa now blends jazz and electronica, soul and ambient music with the rhythms and structures of traditional Nigerian music to create a common feeling: a meditation and affirmative attitude towards the world. In 2020, Kesswa was granted a tandem residency in Berlin and Detroit, during which she collaborated with DJ, radio host, and curator Tereza. 

Born in Detroit’s lower-eastside, and raised downtown in King Homes, Donavan Glover discovered the knack for the arts at a young age. He began making a name for himself in the photography and documentary spaces as early as 2010, with high profile directing and videography credits for acts such as Talib Kweli, Slum Village, Amp Fiddler, Dej Loaf, Royce Da 5’9, Dave Chappelle, jessica Care Moore, Travis Scott, Saul Williams, Vic Mensa, and countless Detroit acts. Glover’s work led him to win multiple awards and fellowships, before embarking on his next artist journey as a music producer and DJ in 2018.

Friday Night Live has showcased music by renowned composers Maurice Ravel, Béla Bartók, Francis Poulenc, Darius Milhaud and Lowell Liebermann, all of whom have performed at the Detroit Institute of Arts. The Grossman Family will perform these iconic works written for violin, viola, cello, piano, and voice.

Hailed by The New York Times as a “Brilliant soloist,” violinist Eric Grossman “possesses a strikingly beautiful sound" (The Strad Magazine). He will be joined by his gifted musical family, Russian-Cuban pianist Lida, their two daughters Cecilia (cello) and Vera (voice) and their two sons Misha (violin), Sasha (piano). Special guests Colette Abel (viola) and Benjamin Abel(violin).

Asian Sound Revolution is a groundbreaking ensemble that fuses traditional Asian instruments with modern creativity. Featuring Jin Hi Kim on komungo, Min Xiao-Fen on pipa, and Gerry Hemingway on drums and percussion, the group innovatively blends ancient musical aesthetics with contemporary techniques. Each musician is internationally renowned for their boundary-pushing work, transforming classic instruments and vocal styles to create unique, fresh sounds.

Masayo Ishigure is a New York-based koto and shamisen player from Japan. She began her music studies at age five and later became a special research student at the Sawai Koto Academy. Known for blending traditional Japanese music with diverse genres, Masayo has performed at venues like Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall. She has collaborated with artists such as Yo-Yo Ma and Yitzhak Perlman and contributed to the Grammy-winning Memoirs of a Geisha soundtrack.

In honor of the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday, the DIA will present a performance by Detroit pianist rocket(!!!)man, a record producer in the bloodline of the Ancient Storyteller, also known as a Groove Monitor. 

He uses The Groove as an ancient ancestral technology to help people better remember who they are, where they come from, and what they are truly capable of through exercises in healing and empowerment. 

Presented in Kresge Court, free with museum admission. (60 min.)

Tour the DIA’s new contemporary exhibit, 7 Mile + Livernois, by artist Tiff Massey. Then, at 7:30 PM, join DJ Nick Speed for dancing and a cash bar in Rivera Court and the Great Hall.

7 Mile + Livernois is Tiff Massey’s new gallery installation, featuring sculptures commissioned by the DIA in conversation with works by other artists from the museum’s collection. Massey’s work reimagines art’s role in the community, offering a vibrant, inclusive view of Detroit. Her art invites us to celebrate collective identity, ancestral flyness, and beauty. 

• Gallery experience: 7 – 9 p.m.
• DJ experience: 7:30 – 9 p.m.

Create a pencil drawing to take home while taking a closer look at the collection. No experience necessary. All supplies provided. For ages 6 and up (children ages 16 and younger should be accompanied by an adult). Capacity is limited.

Senegal/1977—Directed by Ousmane Sembène | 117 min.

Ceddo (loosely translated as “the feudal class” or “outsiders”) remains one of the most important films in the brilliant career of writer and director Ousmane Sembène (1923–2007), often referred to as the father of African cinema. This 1977 epic, set during a period of religious expansion in precolonial Senegal, is now available in a new 4K restoration created in honor of Sembène’s centennial year.

On the surface, Ceddo is a riveting political thriller about the kidnapping of a powerful princess. However, the deeper themes of Sembène’s masterpiece include philosophy, political opportunism, feminism, and two electrifying leaps across the centuries. In this, his most ambitious film, Sembène succeeds in evoking the full breadth of the African experience. In Wolof with English subtitles.

“One of Sembène’s supreme masterworks. A mighty cinematic achievement.” –Richard Brody, The New Yorker

Create a pencil drawing to take home while exploring the collection. No experience is necessary, and all supplies are provided. For ages 6 and up (children 16 and under must be accompanied by an adult). Capacity is limited.