A Conversation on “Black Paris” and the Atlanta Connection

Explore the Centre Pompidou’s major upcoming exhibition, Black Paris (2025) and the connection between the Atlanta art scene and Paris in the 20th and 21st centuries.

Panelists include Cheryl Finley, Walton Endowed Professor and Director, AUC Art Collective, Spelman College, Alicia Knock, curator at the Centre Pompidou and Villa Albertine resident, and Fahamu Pecou, artist and founding Director of ADAMA.

In partnership with Centre Pompidou, Paris, with the support of FORD Foundation, Villa Albertine resident Alicia Knock brings an unprecedented series of talks around “Black Paris” to venues across the US.

These discussions are connected to the Centre Pompidou’s major upcoming exhibition, Black Paris, which will open in Paris on March 19, 2025. This exhibition will unpack the trajectory of 60 African-American, Caribbean, and African artists based in France from the 1950s to the 1990s.

The exhibition will explore the shift of renowned post-war artists from Paris to New York, showcasing Paris as an anchor point for anti-colonial resistance and unpacking its network of support for Africa and the then “Third World”, as well as its connections to many other cities involved in liberation struggles (such as Algiers, Istanbul, and Port-au-Prince).

This historical journey will be captured by contemporary artists reflecting on these decades of struggle, during which aspirations and acts of emancipation confronted numerous forms of invisibility and racism.