The Centre Pompidou in Paris presents "Paris Noir: Artistic circulations and anti-colonial resistance, 1950-2000," an exhibition running from March 13 to June 30, 2025. Curated by Alicia Knock, the show features over 350 works by 150 Black artists from Africa, the Americas, and the Caribbean, tracing their presence and influence in France from the post-war era through the 1990s. The exhibition is organized into 15 thematic chapters, including Pan African Paris, Afro Atlantic Surrealism, and Paris Dakar Lagos, and includes public programming such as talks, film screenings, and performances.
This exhibition matters because it challenges the dominant art-historical narrative that the center of the art world shifted from Paris to New York after World War II, instead highlighting Paris as a hub for anti-colonial and pan-African artistic exchange. By foregrounding artists and networks often marginalized by mainstream institutions, "Paris Noir" redefines modernism and postmodernism through a global, decolonial lens. The show also includes institutional commitments like acquisitions by the National Museum of Modern Art and archives by the Kandinsky Library, ensuring lasting impact.