Paris noir: an exhibition spotlighting black artists in France at the Centre Pompidou

At the crossroads of cultures and social and political struggles, Paris was home to many black artists between the 1950s and 2000. The Centre Pompidou explores the artistic movements born in this cosmopolitan Paris, with the exhibition Paris noir, on view from March 19 to June 30, 2025.

This exhibition brings together works by 150 artists of African and American descent. The thematic tour reveals an art of identity, unprecedented artistic movements, experiments and highly varied practices, painting a picture of a unique era and multicultural city.

The post-war period in Paris inspired artists and gave rise to new practices. Abstraction, modernism, surrealism, the free figure... The canvases and sculptures of African-American, Caribbean and African artists gradually evolved to enter this modern and post-modern era. In Paris, black artists also invented their own artistic movements, linked to decolonization and métissage.

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Intellectuals and artists explore, each in their own way, questions of identity, freedom, rights and equality. Struggles from all over the world are echoed on the Parisian art scene. Apartheid, the struggle for independence and the wars of decolonization, the fight for civil rights in the United States... Current events influence many artists and connect continents and minds.

In a changing world, many artists have sought to create a universalism "of differences", challenging dominant discourses.

The exhibition at the Centre Pompidou also reveals some experimental movements, innovative artists who built their art far from the codes of their time, with no obvious link to current events. These creators demonstrate the importance of Paris in the art world, a land where creative freedom was (almost) total.

To complete the exhibition, contemporary artists also present four installations produced especially for this show. This contemporary counterpoint shows thelegacy of the artists of Black Paris.

A major exhibition not to be missed this spring.