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, Wilfredo 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)

Museu d’Art Contemporani, Barcelona
(May 22–September 28, 2025)

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

KANAL–Centre Pompidou, Brussels
(TBD)

Book Information
ISBN 9780300278996
Author Antawan I Byrd
Format Hardback
Page Count 384
Imprint Art Institute of Chicago
Publisher Art Institute of Chicago