Edward George's Black Atlas reimagines The Image of the Black Archive at London's Warburg Institute
Edward George, affiliated with the Black Audio Film Collective, has developed an audio-visual project titled Black Atlas, currently exhibited at the Warburg Institute in London until 17 January 2026. This initiative engages with The Image of the Black Archive, curated by Dominique and John de Menil in the 1960s, which features 30,000 images depicting Black individuals in Western art. Over the course of a year, George analyzed this archive to create a 57-minute piece divided into nine segments, enhanced by an improvised jazz suite. The work draws on the ideas of thinkers such as Jacques Derrida and W.E.B. Du Bois, while also referencing historical figures like Renty Taylor. The exhibition showcases 400 images, highlighting the impact of slavery and racial capitalism.
Key facts
- Edward George created Black Atlas, an audio-visual work and collaged panels at the Warburg Institute in London
- The exhibition runs through 17 January 2026
- It responds to The Image of the Black Archive, assembled by Dominique and John de Menil starting in the 1960s
- The archive contains 30,000 images of Black figures in Western art from antiquity to the mid-twentieth century
- George spent twelve months reviewing the archive to produce a 57-minute loop in nine sections
- The work references Aby Warburg's Bilderatlas Mnemosyne and thinkers like Jacques Derrida and W.E.B. Du Bois
- Images of enslaved African American man Renty Taylor and his daughter Delia, commissioned by Louis Agassiz in 1850, are included
- Tamara Lanier sued Harvard in 2019 for ownership of the Renty images, but the court ruled in Harvard's favor
Entities
Artists
- Edward George
- Aby Warburg
- Jacques Derrida
- Jacques Lacan
- W.E.B. Du Bois
- Charles Mingus
- Herodotus
- Atticus
- Toussaint Louverture
- Memon
- William Freeman
- Renty Taylor
- Delia
- Louis Agassiz
- Saidiya Hartman
- Tamara Lanier
- Dominique de Menil
- John de Menil
- Matthew Harle
Institutions
- Warburg Institute
- Menil Collection
- ArtReview
- Black Audio Film Collective
- Harvard
Locations
- London
- United Kingdom
- Switzerland