Exhibition Asks What Pan-Africanism Means Today

The traveling exhibition Project a Black Planet: The Art and Culture of Panafrica is using art to examine what pan-Africanism means in 2026. Beginning in Chicago in 2024, the exhibition has moved through Barcelona and London and is set to conclude in Brussels in 2027. The exhibition showcases nearly 500 works created by about 100 artists across Africa and the African diaspora over the course of a century. Project a Black Planet reshapes itself at each venue, drawing on local connections such as Chicago’s Black artistic history or Barcelona’s ties to anti-fascist solidarity movements. The project probes long-standing tensions within pan-Africanism, a concept that has taken political, cultural, and literary forms since the early 20th century, from Marcus Garvey’s emphasis on self-determination to Kwame Nkrumah’s push for continental unity. Beyond museums, pan-African ideas circulate through music and popular culture, including Afrobeats and diaspora collaborations.