Paper short abstract:

The present paper investigates 1) the influence of globalization and decoloniality on the presence, perception and reception of contemporary African art in France and 2) the role played therein by the Revue Noire and by recent exhibitions at the Cartier and Vuitton Foundations, Paris.

Paper long abstract:

The Paris exhibition Magiciens de la Terre (1989) marked a turning point in the genesis of a global, contemporary art in which "everyone is put at the same level." Highly controversial but rich in implications, the exhibition led to two significant events: publication of the Revue Noire, and Jean Pigozzi's collecting of contemporary African art.

The bilingual French-English Revue Noire was the first international magazine to investigate contemporary creative artists in Africa and in the Diaspora, inserting itself into the decoloniality movement and seeking to make known contemporary African art in its own right. The Revue, whose founding principles included rejection both of exoticism and of Eurocentricity, encompassed all the arts as well as related crafts: "Painters, sculptors, photographers, architects, film directors, artists, gallerists, museum directors, directors of cultural centers and associations […] from three continents: keep us informed of your work and of your activities, make the Revue Noire y o u r magazine." Between the first issue (1991) entitled « Ousmane Sow / African London » and the last one (2018) focusing on "restitution, return to the country of origin" of ancient art works stolen under colonial regimes, the Revue traces the history of the reception of contemporary African art which has become a permanent part of both the Fondation Cartier (Beauté Congo 1926-2015) and the Fondation Vuitton (Art/Afrique), home since 2017 to the Collection Pigozzi.