After being in the works for almost a decade, D.C. is finally getting a go-go museum, and it’s going to be just as organic and celebratory as the genre itself. The museum — located in Anacostia — had its ribbon-cutting ceremony yesterday and will officially open to the public in February. Here’s what you can expect.
What’s Inside the Museum?
The Go-Go Museum & Cafe’s collection includes artifacts like a Rare Essence bomber jacket, a DJ Kool touring jacket, and a wig from Maiesha and the Hip Huggers. But, the real star of the show is the interactive exhibits. The museum has AI holograms of the Backyard Band pioneer Ralph Anwan Glover and Sugarbear of EU, and a graffiti exhibit where visitors can tag museum walls using digital spray cans.
Go-Go As Living History
The museum also has a garden area that will be used for live performances, a recording studio, and a community space that will host events. “The go-go museum will be nothing like other D.C. museums,” senior curator Natalie Hopkinson told us. “I think of it as a shrine where people can get the history, but also partake in the living culture that is go-go.”
Entrance to The Go-Go Museum & Cafe. (Kaela Cote-Stemmermann/City Cast DC)
All About the Food
Don’t expect your typical overpriced museum food. The museum brought in chef Angela Rose — executive chef at Smoke & Mirrors and ‘Chopped’ finalist — to head the kitchen. She specializes in Afro-Latin and Southern fusion food and will serve dishes like Jollof rice, jerk salmon, mumbo wings, and of course, half smokes.
What’s Next?
The museum will open to ticketed guests starting the first and third Saturdays of each month beginning in February!
