Berlin Conference (1884–1885) [REVISED AND EXPANDED]
The Berlin West Africa Conference of 1884–5, as it was called, ushered in what became known as the New Imperialism. While the first waves of…
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Acogny, Germaine (1944--)
In a career that has spanned over forty years, Germaine Acogny has contributed to modernism in dance by merging culturally situated West African dances from…
Négritude
The literary and cultural movement known as négritude was started in Paris in 1932 by Black students from French-speaking colonies in West Africa, the Caribbean…
Kofi, Vincent Akwete (1923–1974)
Vincent Akwete Kofi was born in Odumasi-Krobo, Ghana. After training at Achimota College, which had the first and foremost art department in West Africa, he…
Groupe Bogolan Kasobané
The Groupe Bogolan Kasobané is an association of six artists from Mali, West Africa: Kandioura Coulibaly, Klètigui Dembélé, Boubacar Doumbia, Souleymane Goro, Baba Fallo Keita,…
Lam, Wifredo (1902–1982)
The work of Cuban artist Wifredo Lam is internationally recognized for its blending of European modernism, especially cubism and surrealism, with the visual culture of…
Okundaye, Nike (1951--)
Chief (Mrs.) Oyenike Monica Okundaye, better known as Nike, is a painter and textile artist who has had a profound impact on the preservation and…
Kappata, Stephen (1936–2007)
Stephen Chipango Kappata was born in Zambia in 1936 to Angolan migrant parents who had fled Angola during the Portuguese wars of conquest during World…
Vohou Vohou
Vohou Vohou refers to a group of artists from Côte d’Ivoire who came together at the beginning of the 1970s. The main members were Youssouf…
Keita, Fodéba (1921–1969)
Fodéba Keita was a poet, playwright, musician, choreographer, impresario, anti-colonial activist, and statesman. As the leader of several musical bands, author of poems and essays,…
Lattier, Christian (1925–1978)
Christian Lattier, nicknamed the “bare-handed sculptor” by art historian Yacouba Konaté, was among the pioneers of modern art in Côte d’Ivoire. His success was formally…
Modern Negro Art
Modern Negro Art by James A. Porter (1905–1970) is a ground-breaking historical study of African American art from slavery to the early 20th century. The…
Jook House
The jook house (also juke joint), an African American institution found mainly in semiurban areas in the Southern United States, is an important cultural phenomenon…
Enwonwu, Ben C. (1917–1994)
Benedict Chukwukadibia Enwonwu was a pioneer African modernist and the first African transnational artist to gain global visibility, having had his art exhibited in Europe,…
Onabolu, Aina (1882–1963)
Born on 13 September 1882 in Ijebu-Ode, Aina Onabolu was the pioneer of Nigerian Modern Art. He occasioned a radical revolution that facilitated the inclusion…
La Création du Monde
A ballet inspired by a creation fable in Blaise Cendrars’s Anthologie nègre (1921), La Création du monde (The Creation of the World) was produced by…
Nnaggenda, Francis (1936--)
From an early age, Francis Nnaggenda knew he wanted to be an artist. Born in 1936, Nnaggenda was raised in rural Uganda where he became…
African Hip-Hop
There are several features that distinguish African Hip-Hop music from the genre’s American origins. Principal targets of its social critique such as disenfranchisement and social…
Walcott, Derek (1930--)
World-renowned poet, playwright and essayist Derek Walcott won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1992. He grew up in his birthplace, Castries, St Lucia, immersed…
Jazz Dancing
Jazz dancing is an important modern art form that developed in tandem with jazz music between the 1910s and 1940s in America. Emanating from African-American…
Céline, Louis-Ferdinand (1894–1964)
Louis-Ferdinand Céline was one of the most controversial and innovative authors of the twentieth century. Known for his use of insults, slang, and ellipses in…
Howard, Andrée (1910–1968)
Andrée Howard belonged to a group of British choreographers, including Frederick Ashton and Antony Tudor, who began their careers with the Polish-born Marie Rambert in…
Primus, Pearl (1919–1994)
Dancer and choreographer Pearl Primus made significant strides toward securing a vital role for dance artists of color in American modern dance. Sparked by the…
Ailey, Alvin (1931–1989)
Alvin Ailey counts among the most significant American choreographers of the second half of the twentieth century, and his company the Alvin Ailey American Dance…