Ernest Mancoba. Composition. 1940. Oil on canvas, 59 x 50 cm. Reproduced by permission of The Estate of Ernest Mancoba. Image courtesy of The Estate of Ernest Mancoba and Galerie Mikael Andersen

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26 Sep 2019

Another Paris

Simon Njami
Paris, France
The École des modernités At the Institut Giacometti
Location

”Paris played a crucial role for Black Americans and for Africans. The French capital city was, in a quite contradictory context, the place where numerous theories were built, where numerous encounters were made possible, and where intellectual stimulation was followed by productions that, even today, represent historical moments in the evolution of thinkers and artists from these continents. Experimental platform and cultural breeding ground, Paris was the place to be. Wifredo Lam talked with Picasso. Ernest Mancoba was included in the CoBrA movement. Negritude was invented by Aimé Césaire and Léopold Sédar Senghor. Paris did represent what we can imagine as a global capital. What remains of this Paris where Surrealists wrote leaflets to ban the access to the Colonial Exhibition?”

Photo © Simon Njami

Simon Njami is a writer and independent curator.
He co-founded the Revue Noire with Jean-Loup Pivin, Pascal Martin Saint Léon and Bruno Tilliette. He published biographies on James Baldwin, Léopold Sédar Senghor, and some novels. He was also artistic director of the Dakar biennials of 2016 and 2018, and director of the biennial of photography of Bamako from 2000 to 2008. He was curator of the “Africa Remix” exhibition (2004-2007, Düsseldorf, Londres, Paris, Tokyo, Stockholm, Johannesburg) and in 2007 he was co-curator for the African pavilion at the 52ndVenice biennial. Lately, he was curator of the exhibitions “Afriques Capitales” at La Villette (Pairs, 2017), and “Metropolis” at MAXXI (Rome, 2018).  

 

Practical information
Thursday September 26th, 2019 at 6.30pm (Free)
Giacometti LAB, 7 rue victor Schoelcher - Paris XIV
Reservation: rsvp@fondation-giacometti.fr

Videos

Simon NJAMI - Quoi ? La modernité

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