Sun Ra’s Interstellar Influence is Explored in a New Museum Installation

The Monuments exhibit is the largest collection of Sun Ra’s output to date.

The Portland Art Museum is the host of a new Sun Ra retrospective that illuminates the jazz giant’s interstellar influence on music.

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Co-curated by Libby Werbel, MONUMENTS: The Earth Expedition of Sun Ra, gathers the pioneering musician’s films, artworks, record covers, poems, and even his NASA application, into a thoughtful and thorough exploration of his outer-reaching philosophies of peace-seeking and communal enlightenment at the forefront of the Afrofuturism movement. The exhibit’s pieces are pulled from the University of Chicago’s Alton Abraham Collection of Sun Ra Archive and private collectors, all of which are on display until January 27th in the largest collection of his work to date.

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Watch a trailer for the Monuments exhibit below and head to the Portland Art Museum’s website for a full rundown on the installation. Soar on over to Portland to catch the exhibit before it closes at the end of this month.