Project a Black Planet: The Art and Culture of Panafrica

An expansive look at more than a century of Pan-Africanist art and the ways it embodies the movement’s principles and global ambitions

Since the term Pan-Africanism was coined around 1900, the movement’s promise has been to foster liberation and solidarity for Black peoples worldwide. Focusing on its cultural expression, this book presents a rich selection of the visual, sonic, and other creative forms that have emerged throughout Pan-Africanism’s evolution. Among the nearly two hundred artists represented from across the continent and the African diaspora are Beauford Delaney, Ibrahim El-Salahi, Hoyt William Fuller, Wifredo Lam, Simone Leigh, Ernest Mancoba, Zanele Muholi, Kawira Mwirichia, Cauleen Smith, Alma Thomas, and George Albert Yon.

Reflecting Pan-Africanism’s ideals of diversity and dialogue as well as its aspirations to egalitarianism, essays from more than a dozen scholars, artists, and practitioners speak to a range of themes and places, while discussing works in all media made or circulated outside the infrastructure of fine art, including LP albums, illustrated magazines, and manifestos.

Distributed for The Art Institute of Chicago

Exhibition Schedule:

The Art Institute of Chicago
(December 15, 2024-March 30, 2025)

MACBA Museu d’Art Contemporani, Barcelona
(November 6, 2025-April 6, 2026)

Barbican Centre, London
(June 10-September 6, 2026)

KANAL-Centre Pompidou, Brussels
(Fall 2026-Winter 2027)

Antawan I. Byrd is assistant professor of art history at Northwestern University and associate curator in photography and media at the Art Institute of Chicago. Elvira Dyangani Ose is director of the Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona. Adom Getachew is professor of political science and race, diaspora, and indigeneity at the University of Chicago. Matthew S. Witkovsky is Sandor Chair and Curator in Photography and Media and vice president for strategic art initiatives at the Art Institute of Chicago.