A groundbreaking exhibition, “Paris Noir,” has launched at the Pompidou Center in Paris. It will highlight the works of 150 Black artists from Africa, the Americas, and the Caribbean whose works have rarely or never been displayed in France.
The Paris Noir exhibition, also called “Black Paris,” highlights creators from the 1950s to 2000 and introduces an entirely new map of Paris. The Pompidou Center describes the new exhibition as “a vibrant immersion in a cosmopolitan Paris, a place of resistance and creation that gave rise to a wide variety of practices, from a new awareness of identity to the search for trans-cultural artistic
languages. From international to Afro-Atlantic abstractions via surrealism and free figuration, this historical voyage reveals the importance of artists of African descent in the redefinition of Modernisms and Post-modernisms.”Paris Noir is centered on artistic circulations and anti-colonial resistance. The exhibition features four installations produced by artists Valérie John, Nathalie Leroy Fiévee, Jay Ramier, and Shuck One, whose works honor the Black artists who all shaped France’s history. Shuck One shared with the Associated Press that his installation honors the pioneers by “retracing the memories” of the Black figures who created Paris Noir,” highlighting the Black Atlantic and Black Caribbean. Visitors will see works from artists like Beauford Delaney, Wifredo Lam, Harold Cousins, Bob Thompson, and Georges Coran.
Alicia Knock, curator of Paris Noir, told ABC News that the exhibition is “an incredible epic of decolonization.” The display recognizes the Black figures for their contributions as artists and cultural ambassadors, teachers, poets, and philosophers. Paris Noir is a nod to Pan-Africanism, the nationalist movement that encouraged solidarity between people of the African diaspora, and the exhibition will show the Black solidarities that arose at the time. “These artists contributed to rewriting the history of modernism and postmodernism,” Knock
said. The exhibition’s associate curator, Éva Barois De Caevel, said Paris Noir is about Black consciousness and journeys through the history of slavery, racism, and experiences shared by Black artists. It explores post-World War II when African American artists fled from the United States to Paris on the quest for freedom while calling attention to many African artists from French colonies who fought for civil rights and racial justice.Paris Noir will run from March 19 to June 30. Throughout the exhibition’s duration, several events will be hosted by art, cultural, and educational venues in Paris. The exhibition will mark one of the final shows
ahead of a five-year renovation that will clown the museum in 2025. Nearly 40 of the artworks featured in Paris Noir have been acquired by the Pompidou Center as part of its museum collection. Knock hopes this is the beginning of an era in which many French institutions, museums, and universities will focus on these artists.RELATED CONTENT: 9 Black Galleries That Amplify Black Art