Image: Project a Black Planet The Art and Culture of Panafrica, Installation View, 11 Jun – 6 Sep 2026 © Thomas Adank, Barbican Art Gallery
‘Project a Black Planet: The Art and Culture of Panafrica’ is on view at the Barbican Art Gallery in London, bringing together more than 250 works that trace the impact of Pan-Africanism on artistic and cultural production from the 1920s to the present. The exhibition runs through 6 September 2026.
The presentation includes paintings, installations, posters, journals and film. Participating artists include Chris Ofili, Marlene Dumas, Lynette Yiadom-Boakye, El Anatsui, Kader Attia, Rasheed Araeen, Lubaina Himid, Simone Leigh, William Kentridge, Rotimi Fani-Kayode, Ibrahim El-Salahi and many others. The Barbican describes the project as the first major exhibition to consider Pan-Africanism’s influence on both visual art and culture, as well as the role artists have played in shaping Pan-African visions.
The exhibition defines Pan-Africanism as a broad range of political and philosophical movements advocating anti-colonial resistance and transnational solidarity among people of African descent. Rather than presenting Panafrica as a fixed territory, the exhibition frames it as a conceptual terrain shaped by rupture, dissent and collective imagination. The works on display were produced across Africa, Brazil, the Caribbean, North America and Western Europe.
The selection spans historical material and contemporary practices, connecting artistic production with the wider global history of Pan-Africanism. Among the works highlighted by the Barbican is Chris Ofili’s ‘Union Black’ from 2003. The exhibition’s participating artists also include photographers, filmmakers, writers and artists whose practices engage with questions of identity, representation, political resistance and diaspora. The gallery notes that some works address racial identity, racism and discrimination, stereotypical representations, historical language and terminology, and transatlantic enslavement.
‘Project a Black Planet’ is co-organized by the Art Institute of Chicago and MACBA Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona, in collaboration with Barbican London and KANAL-Centre Pompidou Bruxelles. At the Barbican, it forms the centre of a broader season exploring the influence of Pan-Africanism through art, cinema, music, talks, gatherings and other programming. The institution lists more than 50 related events across its centre, bringing together artists, thinkers and communities from Africa and its global diasporas; these parallel programmes continue until 6 September and are separate from the gallery exhibition.
The exhibition is open Tuesday and Wednesday from 10am to 6pm, Thursday and Friday from 10am to 8pm, and Saturday and Sunday from 10am to 6pm; the gallery is closed on Mondays. Standard admission is £20.50, while Young Barbican tickets cost £6 and entry is free for children under 16. ‘Pay What You Can’ admission is available every Thursday from 5pm to 8pm and Friday from 10am to noon. ‘Project a Black Planet: The Art and Culture of Panafrica’ remains on view at the Barbican Art Gallery until Sunday 6 September 2026.
