The temporary exhibition Morabeza: Cape Verdean Community in the South Coast is hosted in the San Francisco galleries, adjoining the permanent gallery devoted to Cape Verdean culture that opened in 2011. It features personal stories, oral histories, music, photographs, and belongings from individuals and community organizations to tell the story of the Cape Verdean diaspora across the region, spanning the South Coast, Rhode Island, and Cape Cod.

In 2025, communities across the world will celebrate the 50th anniversary of Cape Verdean independence from Portugal. New Bedford and the greater South Coast area of New England are home to one of the largest and longest-standing Cape Verdean communities outside of Cabo Verde. In marking this occasion, the New Bedford Whaling Museum presents the Contemporary Cape Verdean 2025 project, which explores the Cape Verdean American and Cape Verdean experience through the lens of contemporary art and community storytelling.

Perri Lynch Howard is a multi-media artist based in Washington state and interested in environments at the forefront of climate change. Self-described as a “sound artist interested in quiet,” Howard has travelled the world recording sounds in the environment both above ground and underwater investigating ideas around sound and quiet, working to chart and capture sites at the forefront of extreme environmental change.

The collections of the New Bedford Whaling Museum / Old Dartmouth Historical Society are an impressive array of fine art, ethnographic objects, whaling implements, nautical artifacts, textiles, household items, and detailed documents from around the world.

This exhibition asks, what do we do with a bust created by someone who held deeply problematic racist ideologies? Do an artist’s beliefs impact how we interpret a sculpture? Is a sculpture like this one defined by the politics of the maker, patron, or subject? What were the Bourne’s politics, and what made Emily decide to commission the bust from Borglum in 1916?

The New Bedford Whaling Museum proudly celebrates and showcases talented regional artists. The exhibition is located on the first floor of the Museum. This area is accessible for free, no admission required.

Marnie Sinclair (b. 1945) is a process artist and environmental activist who often uses her art to visually express the many complicated issues that surround climate change and ocean pollution.