Paris Noir at Centre Pompidou: A Landmark Survey of Black Art

Paris Noir, the largest exhibition of Black art ever staged in France, opened at Centre Pompidou after a controversy over lead curator Alicia Knock, a white curator, being accused by Guadeloupean curator Chris Cyrille of appropriating his concept. The show features over 300 works by 150 artists across 15 sections, organized as a 'Chaos-Monde' referencing Édouard Glissant. It centers on Paris as a hub for global Afro-descendant artists from 1950 to 2000, highlighting figures like Wifredo Lam, whose painting Umbral (1950) entered the Musée National d'Art Moderne in 1969. Works by Mavis Pusey, Guido Llinás, and others address anticolonial struggle and the May 1968 riots. The exhibition includes film by Ousmane Sembène, Sarah Maldoror, and Clem Lawson. Curators frame the show as a 'wake-up call' for French institutions to collect and preserve these works, many stored in attics. Runs through 30 June.