‘Magiciens de la Terre’ 1989: A Landmark Exhibition Challenging Western Art Hegemony

The 1989 exhibition ‘Magiciens de la Terre’ at the Centre Pompidou in Paris united over a hundred artists, only half of whom were from the Western world, radically challenging the Western art system from within. Curated by Jean-Hubert Martin, the show argued for the universality of the creative impulse and presented contemporary works from around the globe on equal terms. The exhibition included a cinema programme, which was revisited in a 2014 weekend of screenings and discussions co-presented by Afterall and Tate Film, titled ‘“Magiciens de la Terre” Reconsidered’. This event featured talks such as ‘Artists at Work, Filming Magicians’ by Anselm Franke. The exhibition is the subject of the publication ‘Making Art Global (Part 2): ‘Magiciens de la Terre’ 1989’, part of Afterall’s Exhibition Histories series. Related materials include texts and images on the Afterall website, as well as a companion volume on the Third Havana Biennial of the same year.