ADVERTISING SUPPLEMENT D culture
The Art of Entertainment
mance highlight reel, featuring what Onwusa says are the “great BET moments and performances.” The video, she continues, “will be celebrating the awards show and the network as a whole. People who have never been to an awards show will see the planning process and credentials required for the show.” Music is something for which Onwusa has
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he BET Awards has expanded from a one-night affair to a three-day extravaganza. This inaugural weekend will set a new precedent in arts, culture and entertainment by
taking music fans and revelers beyond the glitz and glam and into the gallery. BET joined forces with the GRAMMY Museum at L.A. Live for the first-ever BET Awards: Lifetime Achievement Honoree Exhibition, an expo featuring rare footage and precious artifacts of music royalty and previous BET Lifetime Achieve- ment Award recipients such as Patti LaBelle, Whitney Houston, and Earth, Wind & Fire, among others. “What we’re trying to do is tell the story of the
artists using different memorabilia and by taking viewers through that BET experience,” says 27-year- old curator Nwaka Onwusa. On view will be dresses and gowns worn by
Whitney Houston, Chaka Khan and Patti LaBelle, as well as instruments and vestments from each member of Earth, Wind & Fire. For Onwusa, this show is about “celebrating the legacy of all the art- ists and making sure we capture the uniqueness of BET while adding the GRAMMY Museum flare.” Additionally there will be the BET Awards perfor-
a passion. She initially intended to work as a museum educator; however, life took a turn and, in 2011, she made her curatorial debut after seizing an opportunity to develop a high-profile exhibition. “My director said we need to diversify our exhibi- tions,” says Onwusa. After hearing this, she jumped right in and curated the highly successful Hip Hop: A Cultural Odyssey exhibit in Los Angeles. Shortly thereafter, GRAMMY Museum executive director Bob Santelli offered Onwusa bigger projects. “Bob was impressed with my work and eventually he offered me the position to come under his wing as assistant curator,” she recalls. Onwusa’s zeal for education and music were
essential to developing a vision for the exhibition. “With all of the artists’ stories and all that BET does for the African-American community and musi- cians, this story had to be told in a tangible way,” says Onwusa. In life there are game changers, leaders
and innovators. At various points in media and entertainment history BET has been all three. Working with the GRAMMY Museum at L.A. Live and a young curator with a vision, the BET Awards: Lifetime Achievement Honoree Exhibition keeps the media conglomerate on the leading edge in arts and entertainment. Unifying the artists’ artifacts and placing them in museum history makes for an arresting viewer experience. “The GRAMMY Museum is always about educating and inspiring. We want viewers to have fun while educating people on the importance of BET and the importance of the art-
BET AND THE GRAMMY MUSEUM AT L.A. LIVE TEAM UP FOR THE FIRST-EVER LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT HONOREE EXHIBITION BY UNA-KARIIM A. CROSS
Top left: curator Nwaka Onwusa. Above: a gown worn by Whitney Houston on view at the BET Awards: Lifetime Achievement Honoree Exhibition
ists in this exhibition,” says Onwusa. The exhibit will open Friday, June 28, and
is scheduled to run through September 2013. Museum hours are Monday-Friday, 11:30 A.M.-7:30 P.M., and Saturday and Sunday, 10 A.M. -7:30 P.M.
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