Project a Black Planet: The Art and Culture of Pan-Africa Opens at MACBA, Barcelona
by Onyekwusi Glory Oluchi Oct 29, 2025
Project a Black Planet: The Art and Culture of Pan-Africa marks a landmark moment in the study and presentation of Pan-African cultural history. Opening at MACBA (Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona), the exhibition is the first major show to explore a full century of Pan-African artistic expression and activism. Curated by MACBA director Elvira Dyangani Ose, with Antawan Byrd, Adom Getachew, and Matthew S. Witkovsky, the project is a collaborative effort with the Art Institute of Chicago, Barbican Center, London, and KANAL–Center Pompidou, Brussels, and will travel across all four institutions until 2027.
Pan-Africanism is a political, cultural, and intellectual movement that seeks to unite people of African descent around the world. Emerging in the early 20th century, it advocates for solidarity, self-determination, and the recognition of shared histories and struggles against colonialism, racism, and oppression. While its influence on politics and philosophy is widely recognized, its cultural and artistic dimensions have rarely been presented on such a scale—until now.
With nearly 350 works by 100 artists, the exhibition sheds light on the aesthetic, intellectual, and cultural dimensions of Pan-Africanism. Beginning with the first Pan-African Congress of 1919, the show traces how the idea of a unified Black world became a radical space for imagining freedom, collective identity, and self-determination beyond national boundaries.
The exhibition positions Pan-Africanism as a dynamic dialogue connecting Africa and its diasporas across the Americas, the Caribbean, and Europe. Painting, sculpture, photography, video, music, and literature come together to reflect shared histories of displacement, resistance, and transformation, creating a visual and sonic map of liberation where memory, spirituality, and protest converge.
At MACBA, the curatorial narrative is organized around interconnected themes, from the foundations of Pan-African thought and the aesthetics of Negritude to religious and animist traditions, anti-colonial protest, and contemporary Black futurisms. By integrating fine art with popular culture, music, and printed ephemera, the exhibition demonstrates how Pan-African ideas spread not only through artworks but also through posters, magazines, and manifestos.
Archival material plays a central role, highlighting the revolutionary power of the printed word. Newspapers, pamphlets, and community publications underscore the importance of grassroots networks in building a transnational consciousness, while juxtaposition with contemporary artworks opens a dialogue between historical struggles and current articulations of solidarity.
The exhibition is accompanied by a comprehensive publication of the same title, combining a catalog with scholarly essays, artist biographies, and contextual texts that trace the evolution of Pan-African aesthetics from the 1920s to today. This resource provides an essential reference for researchers, artists, and anyone interested in postcolonial and diasporic cultural histories.
MACBA’s public program will extend the exhibition’s impact through seminars, talks, and community collaborations, exploring the relevance of Pan-Africanism in Catalonia and across Europe, connecting historical liberation movements to ongoing conversations about race, identity, and belonging.
Project a Black Planet: The Art and Culture of Pan-Africa will be on view at MACBA from 6 November 2025 to 6 April 2026. For more details, visit macba.cat.
