{"id":6860,"date":"2026-03-12T14:33:22","date_gmt":"2026-03-12T19:33:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mam.org\/info\/pressroom\/?p=6860"},"modified":"2026-04-23T11:01:39","modified_gmt":"2026-04-23T16:01:39","slug":"milwaukee-art-museum-to-present-widline-cadets-first-u-s-museum-solo-exhibition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/mam.org\/info\/pressroom\/2026\/03\/milwaukee-art-museum-to-present-widline-cadets-first-u-s-museum-solo-exhibition\/","title":{"rendered":"Milwaukee Art Museum to Present Widline Cadet\u2019s First U.S. Museum Solo Exhibition"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A major new exhibition exploring migration, memory, and Black diasporic life through photography, video, and installation.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

MILWAUKEE, WI\u2014 March 11, 2026\u2014<\/strong>The Milwaukee Art Museum announces Currents 40: Widline Cadet<\/strong><\/a><\/em>, the first solo museum exhibition in the United States by artist Widline Cadet and the first full presentation of her ambitious, nearly decade-long project Seremoni Disparisyon (Ritual [Dis]Appearance)<\/em>. On view May 8 through August 9, 2026<\/strong>, the exhibition marks a defining moment in Cadet\u2019s career and a major contribution to contemporary photography and media-based art.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Working across photography, video, and installation, Cadet explores Black diasporic life through themes of migration, memory, absence, and belonging. Rooted in lived experience and shaped by displacement between Haiti and the United States, Seremoni Disparisyon<\/em> transforms personal history into a dreamlike, proxy world\u2014one that resists fixed narratives and instead unfolds through repetition, doubling, and carefully staged imagery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cadet began the project by photographing members of her extended family in response to the scarcity of ancestral images passed down through generations. Increasingly limited access to her relatives abroad as well as generational transformation amongst her family in the U.S. inspired the artist to turn the camera toward herself and those around her, creating a \u201cliving archive.\u201d Across the exhibition, autobiographical details\u2014such as re-created domestic interiors, clothing, and gestures\u2014bridge past and present, presence and disappearance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Milwaukee Art Museum holds one of the world\u2019s outstanding collections of 20th-century Haitian art and it is essential that we also make space for contemporary artists who are shaping how diasporic histories are understood today,\u201d said Kim Sajet, Donna and Donald Baumgartner Director of the Milwaukee Art Museum<\/strong>. \u201cWidline Cadet\u2019s work brings those histories into the present, offering audiences a living, contemporary perspective that deepens how Haitian art is seen and understood at MAM.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Installed in the Museum\u2019s Herzfeld Center for Photography and Media Arts, the exhibition highlights Cadet\u2019s innovative approach to image-making and display within a program known for advancing contemporary photography and media art. Photographs appear alongside video, found imagery, and sculptural elements, often presented in unexpected configurations that disrupt traditional modes of photographic viewing. The result is an immersive experience that invites viewers to encounter images not simply as documents, but as evolving sites of memory and meaning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn Seremoni Disparisyon (Ritual [Dis]Appearance)<\/em>, Widline Cadet creates an intimate world centered on Black diasporic life that is grounded in her own experience,\u201d said Kristen Gaylord, Herzfeld Curator of Photography and Media Arts<\/strong>. \u201cYet, like all great art, her work reaches beyond the personal to address topics broadly relevant to us all, including community and belonging, the gaps of family histories, and maintaining connection across distance and loss.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Milwaukee Art Museum established an early relationship with Cadet through the acquisition of her work in 2021, continuing a tradition of supporting emerging artists. Currents 40: Widline Cadet<\/em> reflects the Museum\u2019s belief in the importance of sustained institutional support as artists develop ambitious, long-term bodies of work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Presented as part of the Museum\u2019s Currents<\/em> series\u2014its platform for artists shaping today\u2019s conversations in art and culture\u2014the exhibition positions Cadet\u2019s practice within a broader lineage of experimental photography and media art while offering a timely meditation on diaspora, self-authorship, and memory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To learn more, visit mam.org\/widline-cadet<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Artist bio<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Widline Cadet<\/strong> (b. 1992, P\u00e9tion-Ville, Ayiti) earned her MFA from Syracuse University after completing her BA in studio art from the City College of New York. Her work has been exhibited and published widely and resides in numerous private and public collections, including the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Studio Museum in Harlem, New York; Huis Marseille, Museum for Photography, Amsterdam; Los Angeles County Museum of Art; P\u00e9rez Art Museum, Miami; and Milwaukee Art Museum. She has received numerous awards and fellowships, including from the Pollock-Krasner Foundation (2025), the Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago (2020), and Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture (2018). Her first monograph, Ritual [Dis]Appearance \/ Seremoni disparisyon<\/em>, was published by Black Mountains Studio in May 2025. Cadet lives and works in Los Angeles, CA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Support<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Supporting sponsors<\/strong>
Milwaukee Art Museum\u2019s African American Art Alliance
Anonymous<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Contributing sponsors<\/strong>
Christopher E. Olofson
The Ruttenberg \u201952 Collection
Anonymous<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Exhibitions in the Herzfeld Center for Photography and Media Arts are sponsored by<\/strong>
Herzfeld Foundation<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Milwaukee Art Museum extends its sincere thanks to the Visionaries for their support of the exhibition program.<\/strong>
Mark and Debbie Attanasio
Donna and Donald Baumgartner
Murph Burke
Bill and Sandy Haack
Chris Harned and Elizabeth Quadracci Harned
The Helmerich Trust
Kenneth and Alice Kayser
Joan Lubar and John Crouch
Jeff and Gail Yabuki<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Visit<\/strong>
Currents 40: Widline Cadet<\/em> is on view May 8\u2013August 9, 2026, in the Herzfeld Center for Photography and Media Arts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Programming<\/strong>
May 7: Member Opening
May 8: Special Edition Gallery Talk with Widline Cadet
June 26: Gallery Talk
July 16: Artist Talk: Widline Cadet
August 1: Guest Gallery Talk with Shelby Sinclair
August 6: Haberman Local Luminaries<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Admission<\/strong>
Adults: $27
Students, seniors (65+), military: $20
Kids 12 and under: Free, thanks to an anonymous donor
Wisconsin K\u201312 teachers: Free with valid school ID or pay stub
Members: Free<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thursday Nights at MAM<\/strong>
Every Thursday, admission is pay-what-you-wish from 4 to 8 p.m. Museum admission includes access to collection and exhibition galleries and the Kohl\u2019s Art Studio, which is open Friday\u2013Sunday, 10 a.m.\u20134 p.m.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Membership<\/strong>
Members enjoy free admission, exclusive programs, and special access throughout the year. Learn more at mam.org\/membership<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Experience the Burke Brise Soleil<\/strong>
Designed by Santiago Calatrava, the Museum\u2019s iconic wings open daily with the Museum, close and re-open at noon, and close at 10 p.m. The wings are illuminated nightly from sundown to 10 p.m.; movement is weather permitting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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About the Milwaukee Art Museum<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The Milwaukee Art Museum is an essential destination for art and architecture and a vital cultural resource that connects visitors to dynamic art experiences and one another. Housed in iconic buildings by Santiago Calatrava, Eero Saarinen, and David Kahler on a 24-acre lakefront campus, the Museum is Wisconsin\u2019s largest art institution and home to both broad and deep collections, with exceptional holdings in American painting, sculpture, and decorative arts; conceptual and minimalist art; prints and drawings; European art from the Renaissance through the nineteenth century; photography and new media; modern and contemporary design; folk and self-taught art; and twentieth-century Haitian art. A bold symbol of Milwaukee\u2019s ambition and forward-thinking vision, the Museum is a place for community building, education, and celebration that fosters creativity, free speech, and critical discourse for audiences of all ages and backgrounds. For more information, visit mam.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Media Contact<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

For more information or to request hi-res images, please contact:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cortney Heimerl<\/strong>
Milwaukee Art Museum
communications@mam.org<\/a>
414-940-0490<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Image:<\/strong> Widline Cadet (Haitian, b. 1992), Seremoni Disparisyon #1 (Ritual [Dis]Appearance #1)<\/em> (detail), 2019. Inkjet print. 20 \u00d7 16 in. (50.8 \u00d7 40.64 cm). Collection of Anne-Laure Lemaitre \u00a9 Widline Cadet<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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