Imagining Black Diasporas: 21st-Century Art and Poetics
Imagining Black Diasporas: 21st-Century Art and Poetics
Imagining Black Diasporas: 21st-Century Art and Poetics finds aesthetic connections among 60 artists working in Africa, Europe, and the Americas. The exhibition and its catalogue are among the first to examine nearly a quarter century of production by Black artists. The project debuts new acquisitions for LACMA and expands the Pan-African exhibition canon, historically focused on the Black Atlantic, by showcasing artists working along the Pacific Rim. Nearly 70 works of painting, sculpture, photography, works on paper, and time-based media are organized into four themes: speech and silence, movement and transformation, imagination, and representation. Contemporary poets contributed original work to the catalogue, extending the historical use of poetry in Pan-African discourse. Diaspora’s general definition as a displacement from origins excludes all the creativity the term entails. People reinvent their heritage through artistic expressions, transforming diaspora from regional movement into a wellspring of imagination. Through an analysis of Black artists’ aesthetic choices, Imagining Black Diasporas reveals their insights about existence.
This exhibition was organized by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
Major support provided by LACMA’s Future Arts Collective and the Terra Foundation for American Art.
Generous support provided by Burton Aaron, Taylor and Wemimo Abbey, Art Bridges, Janine Sherman Barrois and Lyndon J. Barrois, Sr., Anita Bhatia, Lizzie and Steve Blatt, Contemporary Projects Endowment Fund, Fabian Newton Family, Rebkah and Desmond Howard, Deon T. Jones and Cameron J. Ross, Erika M. Lewis, Kayma Liburd, Sarah Meade, the National Endowment for the Arts, Nicole Nicholas, Outset Contemporary Art Fund, Jason Riffe, Stephanie and Leon Vahn, Tiffany Lea Williams, Byron M. A. Young MD, and Paulina Zamora Menéndez.
Research support by A4 Arts Foundation.
All exhibitions at LACMA are underwritten by the LACMA Exhibition Fund. Major annual support is provided by The David & Meredith Kaplan Foundation, with generous annual funding from Louise and Brad Edgerton, Edgerton Foundation, Tanya Fileva, Mary and Daniel James, Bert Levy Fund, Justin Lubliner, Alfred E. Mann Charities, Kelsey Lee Offield, Maggie Tang, Lenore and Richard Wayne, and Marietta Wu and Thomas Yamamoto.
Arielle Bobb-Willis, New Jersey, 2019, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Ralph M. Parsons Fund, photo © Museum Associates/LACMA
- Dec 15, 2024–Aug 3, 2025
- BCAM, Level 2
This exhibition was organized by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
Major support provided by LACMA’s Future Arts Collective and the Terra Foundation for American Art.
Generous support provided by Burton Aaron, Taylor and Wemimo Abbey, Art Bridges, Janine Sherman Barrois and Lyndon J. Barrois, Sr., Anita Bhatia, Lizzie and Steve Blatt, Contemporary Projects Endowment Fund, Fabian Newton Family, Rebkah and Desmond Howard, Deon T. Jones and Cameron J. Ross, Erika M. Lewis, Kayma Liburd, Sarah Meade, the National Endowment for the Arts, Nicole Nicholas, Outset Contemporary Art Fund, Jason Riffe, Stephanie and Leon Vahn, Tiffany Lea Williams, Byron M. A. Young MD, and Paulina Zamora Menéndez.
Research support by A4 Arts Foundation.
All exhibitions at LACMA are underwritten by the LACMA Exhibition Fund. Major annual support is provided by The David & Meredith Kaplan Foundation, with generous annual funding from Louise and Brad Edgerton, Edgerton Foundation, Tanya Fileva, Mary and Daniel James, Bert Levy Fund, Justin Lubliner, Alfred E. Mann Charities, Kelsey Lee Offield, Maggie Tang, Lenore and Richard Wayne, and Marietta Wu and Thomas Yamamoto.
Arielle Bobb-Willis, New Jersey, 2019, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Ralph M. Parsons Fund, photo © Museum Associates/LACMA