Barbican reveals new details of major international exhibition Project a Black Planet
The Barbican Art Gallery has revealed further details of Project a Black Planet: The Art and Culture of Panafrica, a major international exhibition examining the impact of Pan-Africanism on art and culture. Serving as the centrepiece of the Barbican’s 2026 season, the exhibition will be accompanied by more than thirty events across cinema, music, performance, talks, and more, bringing together artists, thinkers, and communities from Africa and its global diasporas.
Simone Leigh, Dunham, 2017. The Art Institute of Chicago © 2017 Simone Leigh, Photo Jonathan Mathias
The exhibition brings together over 300 works produced over the last century, including paintings, sculptures, installations, journals, posters, and films from Africa, the Caribbean, Brazil, North America, and Western Europe. Featured artists include Marlene Dumas, Simone Leigh, David Hammons, Chris Ofili, Wifredo Lam, Magdalene Odundo, Liz Johnson Artur, and Abdias do Nascimento. It is the first major showcase to highlight both Pan-Africanism’s influence on visual culture and the pivotal role of artists in shaping transnational ideas of solidarity, resistance, and imagination.
Abdias Nascimento Simbiose Africana nº 3, 1973 Museu de Arte Negra [Black Art Museum] IPEAFRO Collection
Project a Black Planet explores key movements such as Garveyism, Quilombismo, and Négritude, alongside contemporary investigations of protest, memory, and personal reflection. Highlights include Simone Leigh’s Dunham (2017), David Hammons’ African-American Flag (1990), and archival publications such as W.E.B. Du Bois’ The Souls of Black Folk (1903). Paintings, photography, installations, and ephemeral material demonstrate how artists responded to political upheaval, celebrated ancestry, and envisioned collective futures.
David Hammons, African American Flag, 1990 © ARS, NY and DACS, London 2026. Photo © White Cube (Frankie Tyska)
The exhibition season extends beyond the gallery to a dedicated film programme, live performances, workshops, and public events including the Sankofa Carnival Performance and the Reasonings conversation series. Co-organised with the Art Institute of Chicago, MACBA Barcelona, and KANAL-Centre Pompidou Bruxelles, and generously supported by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Project a Black Planet offers a bold, multi-sensory celebration of Pan-African art, activism, and culture.
Date: 11 June – 6 September 2026. Location: Barbican Art Gallery, Silk Street, London, EC2Y 8DS barbican.org.uk
