[category]
[title]
For a movie about less-than-virtuous vamps, Sinners had a pretty righteous run last year, snagging an unprecedented 16 Academy Award nominations and four Oscar wins, including a very deserved trophy for double-duty lead actor Michael B. Jordan. Now Ryan Coogler's record-breaking horror flick is getting a landmark exhibition at one of Los Angeles's best museums.
"Sinners: Sounds That Summon" is now open at the California African American Museum (CAAM)—on view through March 14, 2027, this immersive presentation was co-organized with Warner Bros. Archives, giving film fans an in-depth look into the moody world-building of Coogler's film.
Sinners' unforgettable Club Juke sequence serves as the centerpiece of the exhibition. In the scene, the music connects the past to the present, from traditional African rituals to contemporary street dance. The new exhibition celebrates this connection, and places visitors directly into the world of the film with key artifacts including the original Club Juke sign, Smoke and Stack’s costumes and the iconic guitar played by protagonist Sammie "Preacher Boy" Moore.
Curator Imani Y. Haynes has brought the Club Juke scene to life, using music as an ancestral thread to explore Black cultural memory across three distinct thematic sections:
- Music Makes Sound examines instruments as historical vessels that carry generations of tradition, resilience and storytelling.
- Music Makes Movement explores dance as an embodied form of cultural memory, tracing how rhythmic movement adapts as it travels across communities.
- Music Makes Worlds highlights how music transcends auditory bounds to shape language, fashion, identity and shared community spaces.
"Sinners: Sounds That Summon" also highlights the historical journey of the Great Migration, illustrating how Black music and culture traveled from the Mississippi Delta to California, planting seeds for new forms of artistic expression.
The experience culminates in an interactive installation titled "Sounds That Carry Us". Inspired by the contrast between the safe, transformative freedom found within Club Juke and the hostile world outside its doors, the space invites visitors to contribute their own musical memories—reflecting on specific songs, genres or sounds that anchor them to joy, hope and community.
The exhibition is on view now through March 14, 2027. For an in-depth look, join the Curatorial Walkthrough with the curator on Tuesday, October 27 from 2-3pm. The walkthrough is free and open to the public with RSVP.
Find out more at the CAAM website.