Africans and African-Americans often look to the same cultural foundations for meaning, In the decades leading up to this exhibition, artists from each group crossed the Atlantic, and in many cases these artists have encountered each other and shared their diverse perspectives. On one hand, there are Africans grappling with the west, and on the other, artists from the west grappling with Africa. This exhibition explored the similarities and distinctions between the work of African artists working in the west, and African-American artists with African experiences or connections. The exhibition presupposed that there were affinities between African-American culture and certain African cultures, and that over a century of dialogues and voluntary transatlantic travel has reinforced cultural connections. In addition, both groups of artists have had to reconcile African traditions with contemporary artistic trends, techniques, and realities. Notions of identity such as Negritude, PanAfricanism, and Blackness, as well as ideas of individuality eluding such definitions were explored in this exhibition.