Image: maison de la photographie Robert Doisneau, Paris
Maison Doisneau in Gentilly will present ‘Kwame Brathwaite, Black is Beautiful’ from 18 September 2026 to 14 March 2027. The opening vernissage, held on 17 September at 18:00, will coincide with celebrations for Maison Doisneau’s 30th anniversary.
The exhibition is an official Bicentennial of Photography project, labelled by France’s Ministry of Culture. The Bicentennial programme runs from 1 September 2026 to 30 September 2027. Curated by Yasmine Chemali and François Cheval, the presentation is produced by the Centre de la photographie de Mougins and realised in collaboration with The Kwame Brathwaite Archives.
Brathwaite played a major role in popularising the slogan “Black is Beautiful” during the 1960s. He co-founded the African Jazz-Art Society & Studios, or AJASS, a collective that advanced an autonomous and militant Black aesthetic. His photographs represented Black bodies in free and positive terms, celebrating skin colour and African American cultural identity.
His work was connected to the wider community movement around Marcus Garvey Day, celebrated in Harlem since 1965.
Deedee Little, a Grandassa model, is identified in a photograph riding in a car during the Garvey Day parade, around 1965.
