Her Afrofuturistic creations can be seen throughout the fictional nation of Wakanda depicted in the Marvel comic books and movies. Her detail-oriented designs have an eye on tomorrow while honoring those who came before her.
This could very well be a description of Shuri, the princess of Wakanda and her country’s lead scientist, who eventually takes up the mantle of “Black Panther” once held by her father and brother.
But we’re talking about Douriean Fletcher, the real-life jewelry artist behind the adornments that audiences see in the “Black Panther” movies and many other major projects, who will be showcasing her work in an exhibition at the Walters Art Museum next year.
The show will showcase jewelry that Fletcher has created for projects like “Black Panther,” “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” “Coming 2 America,” and “Roots,” and feature them alongside pieces from Ancient Egypt, Indigenous Latin America, and Ethiopia in the Walters’ collection.
Titled “Douriean Fletcher: Jewelry of the Afrofuture,” the exhibition examines what it means to be part of the African diaspora, and how jewelry can be used to express one’s own identity in a world seeking to define it for you.
“Afrofuture is a return to ourselves,” Fletcher said. “It’s an opportunity to reidentify ourselves from the narrative that has been passed down through our history that we only deserve one month in the year to celebrate the successes that we are as Americans and accomplishments and the contributions we’ve given as Americans.”
She explained it can be “psychologically disheartening” to be descendants of enslaved people, but there is also “opportunity to expand and evolve that narrative and story into something extremely powerful.”
The exhibition was organized by the Museum of Arts and Design in New York City, where it remains on view through March 15, 2026. The show will then travel to Baltimore, where it will be displayed at the Walters from April 18 to Aug. 9, 2026.
“Douriean Fletcher is a prolific metalsmith whose deeply personal works have shaped the
cinematic worlds of culture-defining films that have resonated throughout Baltimore and
around the world,” said Kate Burgin, the Walters’ Andrea B. and John H. Laporte Director and CEO, in a statement. “Through ‘Douriean Fletcher: Jewelry of the Afrofuture,’ visitors will gain a new understanding of those worlds, learn about Douriean’s career, and be delighted by the unique storytelling power of jewelry.”
Burgin added, “This exhibition is right at home here alongside the Walters’ own global collections of jewelry, which include extraordinary works from Ancient Egypt, Indigenous Latin America, and Ethiopia, and underscores the importance of the Walters’ expansive collection as a source of inspiration for practicing artists.”
For Fletcher the show at the Walters will revisit a pivotal moment in her journey as a jewelry artist.
Some of Douriean Fletcher’s earliest creations were simple rings made of wrapped wire she had purchased from Home Depot.
“I wanted to make it a career,” she said. “I wanted to have a message in whatever I was doing. It felt very crafty to me, and I wanted more.”
While sitting on her mother’s couch in Pasadena, California, where she grew up, Fletcher was looking at online photos of artwork by artists like sculptor Alexander Calder and jeweler Art Smith. Then, she came across images of two rings in the Walters Art Museum’s ancient Egyptian collection.
She saw beauty in the Egyptian rings – not despite their simplicity, but because of it.
“To make that connection between that ring, that Hathor ring, and what I was doing, it gave me permission to move forward,” she said.
Now, she is excited to see her jewelry displayed alongside the very pieces from the Walters’ collection that affirmed her dream of becoming a jeweler.
“It feels right,” she said. “It feels that I am continuing this idea of creating.”
She added that she was recently able to visit the Walters and spend time with some of the artifacts, which were each “a reflection of the culture of the time, and I feel like I’m adding to that story.”
Growing up in Pasadena, Fletcher often had to navigate social norms as one of the only Black students in class. Conversations around hair as a Black girl bubbled to the surface when she was on her school’s swim team.
“I started swimming in my freshman year of high school, and because it was a challenge keeping my hair polished, I got a relaxer,” she said. “With the relaxer and the chemicals in the water, my hair started breaking off.”
Fletcher’s mother encouraged her to question everything. But that idea wasn’t supported in church as a Seventh Day Adventist.
“I just had so many questions, and I wasn’t getting the answers that made sense to me,” Fletcher said.
It wasn’t until years later that she found her own spiritual path, when she heard from Michael Beckwitch, founder of Agape International Spiritual Center near Los Angeles.
“I just really resonated with what he was saying about ‘we’re spiritual beings having a human experience,’ and that clicked inside of me,” Fletcher said. “That made sense to me. That made more sense than this idea that I have to do everything by the book or I will live the rest of my life in hell.”
Jewelry became a medium for Fletcher to express her identity, a practice that dates back to when she was a child.
“My mom used to get me thrifted pieces of jewelry, and I would mix them up,” she said. “If I lost one of a pair of earrings, I would mix things up and make them look unique.”
Jewelry can serve as literal statement pieces, ideological reflections of not only the current wearer, but of their familial and cultural ancestors, Fletcher said.
“I think that heirlooms are such an important item to have,” she said. “I think that it is memory passed through generations, and I think that it serves as a reminder of who one has been through their bloodline…. It’s like coming home.”
She added, “I have a few pieces of my grandmother’s, and it always reminds me of who she was, who she meant to me, how she carries herself.”
In an era of “fast fashion,” with items being mass-produced and often discarded when the trend is over, Fletcher wants to create jewelry that will stand the test of time.
“I think that it’s a reminder that we’re human, and that the physical items, physical things that we choose to wear and that we hold on to, are dear,” she said. “They mean something. They remind us of our humanity. What really stood out to me when I started making jewelry is this idea that it was a nonverbal communicative tool for us to identify who we are and to express who we are, what group we came from.”
That’s part of what drew costume designer Ruth E. Carter to Fletcher’s work when she visited one of Fletcher’s jewelry salons. Carter invited Fletcher to work with her on the television miniseries “Roots,” and later on the “Black Panther” movies.
“When they saw the finished buckles and some of the other artworks [for the Dora Milaje warriors in ‘Black Panther’], they heard some of the other people in the costume house were surprised that it looks realistic,” Fletcher said. “I think she appreciated that it didn’t look cartoonish, it didn’t look fake, it was a real belt buckle. And so I gave a sense of authenticity to this Marvel universe.”
Fletcher employed that same attention to detail in her jewelry for the Wakandan matriarch, Queen Ramonda, played by Angela Bassett.
“I was able to take derivatives of what [Carter] had shown me for her inspiration and create a story about who Ramonda was, remain consistent with Ramonda and Angela Bassett’s personality of being this regal, extremely powerful, extremely confident woman, and being able to integrate this personality in the colorway, like the purple and the labradorite I use to create a reflection of who she was within.”
Fletcher felt fulfilled when she saw fans’ online reactions.
“I watched hours of reactions from people who were fans of ‘Black Panther’ and saw how emotional and how excited they were to finally see ‘Black Panther’ come to life on screen,” she said.
As a self-taught artist, Fletcher hopes her exhibition will show viewers that they don’t necessarily need a formal art education to be successful; they just need a vision and a will to create.
“I think that it is important to highlight the idea of following one’s spark … and dive as deep as possible within the things that bring them joy, to be able to create beautiful things that create an impact and that can bring joy to others.”
Thank you for the information. I am definitely going to see this collection.