Project a Black Planet brings a season of cultural events and displays to the Barbican Centre focused on Pan-Africa and the role of artists in shaping Pan-African culture. The programme explores Pan-Africanism as a social, political and philosophical movement, and topics such as revolution, gender and identity through music, film, artworks and talks. It combines artists, thinkers and communities from across the African continent and its global diasporas.

An exhibition of over 300 works includes artists from Portuguese-speaking African countries including Bertina Lopes, Malangatana and Kiluanji, as well as key intellectuals and poets belonging to the Cape Verdean Claridade movement. It was co-developed by the MACBA Museum of Contemporary Art of Barcelona and the Art Institute of Chicago, where it was first shown, and reimagined at the Barbican to respond to the UK context.

The exhibition is accompanied by a three-month programme of community, music and film events, including cinema screenings of the 1976 documentary Return of Amílcar Cabral by Sana Na N’Hada and Path to the Stars by Mónica de Miranda, and a performance by Cape Verdean Cesária Évora Orchestra with special guest Mayra Andrade.

The Foundation’s UK Branch provided a grant to support the programme and the inclusion of Portuguese-speaking African artists in this major cultural institution.

Opening on 11 June, the programme runs until early September across the entire Barbican Centre. Visit the Barbican website for more information.