CHRONOLOGY

POLITICALBACKGROUND

KEY POLITICALEVENTS AND PEOPLE

ATLANTICTHOUGHT

ART ANDLITERARY EVENTS

ARTMOVEMENTS

c.15

00c.

1518

c.17

4517

5716

40s

1665

–174

0

Portuguese bringAfrican captives toEurope as slaves

Start of large-scaleslavetrading byBritish slavers andsugar cultivation inBritish Caribbean

First African captivesshipped directly fromAfrica to America

Jamaica’s FirstMaroon War

Haitian Revolution

1775

–83

1789

–99

1791

–180

4

American War ofIndependence

Olaudah Equianoborn in what is nowNigeria (West Africa)

Ottobah Cugoanoborn near Ajumako,modern Ghana

1787

1789

Freed black settlersfrom England, NovaScotia and Jamaicaarrive in Sierra Leone

Ottobah Cugoanopublishes Thoughtsand Sentiments onthe Evil of Slavery andCommerce of theHuman Species

Olaudah Equianopublishes TheInteresting Narrative ofthe Life of OlaudahEquiano, or GustavusVassa the African

French Revolution

POLITICALBACKGROUND

KEY POLITICALEVENTS AND PEOPLE

ATLANTICTHOUGHT

ART ANDLITERARY EVENTS

ARTMOVEMENTS

1 January,Haiti declared afree republic

1817

or18

1818

06–2

518

20–9

918

21–2

218

2218

3318

3518

3818

0418

0818

0718

11

25 March, Act for theAbolition of the SlaveTrade declares theslave trade illegal inthe British Empire

Sierra Leonebecomes a Britishcolony, in whichChristian missionariessettle and educateslaves rescued fromslave ships

14 February,Frederick Douglassborn (as slave)

About 8000Afro-Brazilian formerslaves return to WestAfrica to settle

Slavery Abolition Actabolishes slaverythroughout most ofthe British Empire

Major uprising ofMuslim slaves inBahia, Brazil

Frederick Douglasssuccessfully escapesfrom his ownerMr Freeman

Wars forindependencein South America

Chile gainsindependence

Liberia founded as acolony by the AfricanColonization Societyas a settlement forfreed Americanslaves

Brazil, Bolivia andEcuador gainindependence

POLITICALBACKGROUND

KEY POLITICALEVENTS AND PEOPLE

ATLANTICTHOUGHT

ART ANDLITERARY EVENTS

ARTMOVEMENTS

1840

s Rise of Yoruba orishaworship in Trinidadand Guyana

1848

1859

Abolition of slaveryin France and all itscolonies

1845

Frederick Douglasspublishes hisautobiography,Narrative of the Lifeof Frederick Douglass,an American Slave.

Martiano Eliseu doBonfim born in Bahia,Brazil

1861

1861

–65

1865

1868

British annexationof Lagos

American Civil War

EmancipationProclamation issuedby Abraham Lincoln

13th Amendment tothe US Constitutionprohibits slaverythroughout the USA

1863

William EdwardBurghardt Du Boisborn

1880

–191

418

7518

85

‘Scramble for Africa’(European colonialconquest)

Martiniano Eliseu doBonfim travels toLagos, Nigeria foreducation,and isinitiated as ababalawo (Ifa diviner)

Wallace D. FardMuhammad born

W.E.B. Du Boisattends FiskUniversity, Nashville,Tennessee

1877

POLITICALBACKGROUND

KEY POLITICALEVENTS AND PEOPLE

ATLANTICTHOUGHT

ART ANDLITERARY EVENTS

ARTMOVEMENTS

1870

s18

84–8

518

87

Berlin Conferenceestablishes rulesfor Europeancolonisation of Africa

17 August, MarcusGarvey born inSt Anne’s Bay,Jamaica

Edward WilmotBlyden publishesChristianity, Islamand the Negro Race

Fisk UniversityJubilee Singers tourthe UK and offerblack music aspopular culture

1890

Frederick Douglassminister-resident andconsul-general to theRepublic of Haiti

Oswald de Andradeborn. One in sevenLagosians has lived inCuba or Brazil

20 February,Frederick Douglassdies18

9518

9719

02

Elijah Muhammadborn. W.E.B. Du Boishelps found theAmerican NegroAcademy

British ‘punitiveexpedition’ againstBenin, during whichartworks (the Beninbronzes) are stolen

Henry SylvesterWilliams organisesfirst Pan-AfricanConference in London.Ronald Moody bornin Jamaica

Norman Lewis born.Wifredo Lam born

26 May,Aaron Douglas, born

1900

1899

1906

W.E.B. Du Boispublishes The Soulsof Black Folk.

Josephine Baker born

1903

1889

–91

Martiniano Eliseu doBonfim returns toBrazil and promotesYoruba culture there.Abolition of slaveryin Brazil

1888

POLITICALBACKGROUND

KEY POLITICALEVENTS AND PEOPLE

ATLANTICTHOUGHT

ART ANDLITERARY EVENTS

ARTMOVEMENTS

1907

1911

Picasso paintsLes Demoisellesd’Avignon

Marcus Garvey travelsin South and CentralAmerica, andLondon; returns toJamaica

Romare Beardenborn

1910

–12

African NationalCongress foundedin South Africa19

1219

14

Marcus Garveyfounds UniversalNegro ImprovementAssociation (UNIA)

1916

1917

1919

1919

–35

Marcus Garvey movesto Harlem, New YorkCity

W.E.B. Du Boisorganises theFirst Pan-AfricanCongress in Pariswith delegates fromAmerica, theCaribbean, Europeand Africa. MarcusGarvey founds theBlack Star Line toaid transportationand the returnfrom America toAfrican homeland

Jacob Lawrence born

Harlem Renaissance

1915

–34

World War I

United States’occupation of Haiti

1914

–18

POLITICALBACKGROUND

KEY POLITICALEVENTS AND PEOPLE

ATLANTICTHOUGHT

ART ANDLITERARY EVENTS

ARTMOVEMENTS

W.E.B. Du Boispublishes a collectionof essays and fiction,Darkwater: Voices fromwithin the Veil, and amonthly magazine forblack children,The Brownies’ Book

Exhibition by Negroartists, 135th StreetBranch of the NewYork Public Library

Second Pan-AfricanCongress in London,Brussels and Paris

Third Pan-AfricanCongress, Lisbon

1921

Exhibition of visualarts and literature byNegroes, Boston PublicLibrary. August Savagemakes a bust ofMarcus Garvey

James Van Der Zeestarts photographicseries of MarcusGarvey and UNIAactivities

Special issue of USpublication SurveyGraphic entitledHarlem: Mecca of theNew Negro. AlainLocke publishesThe New Negro:An Interpretation,collection of essays,short stories, andphotographs,including an essay byW.E.B. Du Bois; partlyillustrated anddesigned by AaronDouglas

Aaron Douglas,Wallace Thurman,Zora Neale Hurston,John P. Davis,Richard Bruce Nugent,Gwendolyn Bennettand Langston Hughesproduce FIRE!!A Quarterly JournalDevoted to theYounger Negro Artists;Douglas designs cover

Marcus Garveyarrestedfor fraud inconnection with thefailed Black Star Line;is sent to prison andlater deported toJamaica

1922

1923

1920

1925

1924

1926

August, FirstInternationalConvention of theNegro Peoples of theWorld, organised byUNIA and MarcusGarvey, Harlem

Malcolm X born.Frantz Fanon born.Josephine Baker firstarrives in Paris andopens at the Théatredes Champs-Élysées

W.E.B. Du Bois travelsto the Soviet Union

POLITICALBACKGROUND

KEY POLITICALEVENTS AND PEOPLE

ATLANTICTHOUGHT

ART ANDLITERARY EVENTS

ARTMOVEMENTS

1927

1928

1929

1930

Paul Colin createsLe Tumulte Noir,portfolio aboutJosephine Baker andjazz movement inParis. Jacob Epsteinarrives in New York forthree months; meetsCarl Van Vechten,Albert Barnes, FrankCrowninshield andPaul Robeson (whosits for portrait bust).Josephine Baker’sperformance at FoliesBergère is filmed

‘ManifestoAntropófago’(Cannibal Manifesto),by Oswald deAndrade, publishedin the first issue ofthe Revista deAntropofagia(São Paulo)

Aaron Douglas startsworking on murals atFisk University as anartist-in-residence

Exposition ColonialeInternationale, Paris.Museum of Africanand Oceanic Artsopens at the sametime

Dakar-Djiboutiexhibition, Trocadéro,Paris

1931

1933

Wall Street Crash inNew York, start ofGreat Depression

Coup d’état in Brazil.Beginning of the so-called SecondRepublic; GetúlioVargas in power

Martin Luther King, Jr,born

Jacob Lawrencemoves to Harlem,New York. September,Aaron Douglas sailsto Paris; studies atL’Académie Scandinave.May (to February1933), Dakar-Djiboutiexpedition, led byMarcel Griaule

Nation of Islam foundedby Wallace D. FardMuhammad, Detroit,Michigan

11 May,Minister LouisFarrakhan born

The Commonwealthfounded

Italian occupation ofEthiopia

1934

1935

–44

Wallace D. FardMuhammad dies

Zou Zou, starringJosephine Baker(directed by MarcAllegret), released inFrance. Publication ofNegro: An Anthology,collected and editedby Nancy Cunard

POLITICALBACKGROUND

KEY POLITICALEVENTS AND PEOPLE

ATLANTICTHOUGHT

ART ANDLITERARY EVENTS

ARTMOVEMENTS

World War II

Aimé Césaire publishespoem Cahier d’unRetour au Pays Natal(Notebook of a Returnto the Native Land)

10 June,Marcus Garvey dies

1935

1936

1937

1938

1939

1939

–45

1940

Riot in Harlemfollowing protestagainst employerdiscrimination bywhite-owned stores.Marcus Garvey movesto London

W.E.B. Du Bois travelsthrough Poland,the Soviet Union,Manchuria, Chinaand Japan

Josephine Bakerreturns to Paris andbecomes Frenchcitizen. Loïs MailouJones travels to Parisand studies for a yearat L’Académie Julian

Aaron Douglas returnsto Fisk to take upposition of Professorof Art Education;travels to Haiti and theVirgin Islands to paint.Fela Kuti born inAbeokuta, Nigeria

Négritude movementfounded by SenegalesePresident LéopoldSédar Senghor,Martinican poet AiméCésaire, and theGuianan Léon Damas

C.L.R. James publishesThe Black Jacobins

Cedric Dover publishesHalf-Caste, ‘a studytracing the culturalcontributions ofmixed race peoples(including African-Americans)’

Ronald Moody exhibitshis sculptures at theVan Lier Gallery,Amsterdam, then atthe Salon des Tuileriesand L’Equipe in Paris.Jacob Lawrence hasfirst solo exhibition,Harlem YMCA.Completes ToussaintL’Ouverture series

African Negro Artexhibition, Museumof Modern Art,New York (477 worksphotographed byWalker Evans,commissioned byJames JohnsonSweeney)

Ronald Moody exhibitsat the Walker ArtGallery, Liverpool

David Hammonsborn19

43

POLITICALBACKGROUND

KEY POLITICALEVENTS AND PEOPLE

ATLANTICTHOUGHT

ART ANDLITERARY EVENTS

ARTMOVEMENTS

Angela Davisborn

15–21 October, FifthPan-African Congress,Manchester, England.W.E.B. Du Bois attends.United call for anindependent Africa

In Paris, Alioune Diopestablishes PrésenceAfricaine, a publishinghouse and journalpromoting Africanculture. W.E.B. Du Boistravels throughGrenada, Jamaica,Trinidad, and Cuba

22 June, arrival of theEmpire Windrush inTilbury, UK, from theCaribbean

Historian Eric Williamspublishes Capitalismand Slavery

Léopold Sédar Senghorpublishes Chantsd’Ombre in Paris

HistorianJohn Hope Franklinpublishes FromSlavery to Freedom

Léopold Sédar Senghoredits first anthology ofNegritude poetry,Anthologie de lanouvelle poésie nègreet malgache, withintroduction by Jean-Paul Sartre. Foundingof the Museu de ArteModerna (MAM) inSão Paulo, Brazil

First BienalInternacional de ArtesPlásticas in São Paulo,Brazil

Caribbean Voicesbroadcast weekly bythe BBC, focusing onliterary works fromthe Caribbean region

Aimé Césairepublishes Discourse onColonialism

1944

1945

1946

1950

1951

1948

1947

Frantz Fanon publishesPeau noire, masquesblancs (trans. BlackSkin, White Masks)

24 August,Linton Kwesi Johnsonborn in Jamaica19

52

POLITICALBACKGROUND

KEY POLITICALEVENTS AND PEOPLE

ATLANTICTHOUGHT

ART ANDLITERARY EVENTS

ARTMOVEMENTS

First ExposiçãoNacional de ArteAbstrata, Brazil

W.E.B. Du Bois awardedInternational PeacePrize by the WorldPeace Council

1953

W.E.B. Du Bois refusedpassport to attend theFirst InternationalCongress of BlackWriters and Artistssponsored byPrésence Africaine,Paris. Aaron Douglasspends part ofsummer in Europeand West Africa(including London,Lisbon, Madrid,Barcelona, Florence,Rome, and Africanports of Dakar,Accra, and Lagos)

6 March,Ghana gainsindependence(first African colonyto do so)

20 August,Michael Jacksonborn

Launch ofBlack Orpheus, reviewof literature and arts,Ibadan, Nigeria

Second Congrès desécrivains et artistesnoirs (InternationalCongress of BlackWriters and Artists),held in Rome

Congrès des écrivainset artistes noirs(First InternationalCongress of BlackWriters and Artists),organised by AliouneDiop and AiméCésaire, held inSorbonne, Paris(attended by FrantzFanon, Léopold SédarSenghor, LangstonHughes, RichardWright, Ben Enwonwu,and Cheik Anta Diop)

Zaria Arts Societyinaugurated at theNigerian College ofArts, Scienceand Technology, underdirectorship of UcheOkeke, also called the‘Zaria Rebels’. Theirsociety developstheory of ‘NaturalSynthesis’.

1956

1958

1959

1957

Oswald de Andradedies

Algerian War ofIndependence begins,led by the FrontLibération Nationale(FLN)

1954

POLITICALBACKGROUND

KEY POLITICALEVENTS AND PEOPLE

ATLANTICTHOUGHT

ART ANDLITERARY EVENTS

ARTMOVEMENTS

Seventeen Africancountries gainindependence,including Nigeria,Senegal, Mali, BelgianCongo, French Congo,and Ivory Coast.Insurrection in Algeriaby French populationagainst de Gaulle’sgovernment

Jean-Michel Basquiatborn.Glenn Ligon born.Lorna Simpson born.Isaac Julien born.Coco Fusco born.W.E.B. Du Bois travelsto Ghana and Nigeria

1960

6 December, FrantzFanon dies inWashington, DC

Establishment of theparliamentary systemin Brazil

Restoration of thepresidential systemin Brazil

W.E.B. Du Boisrenounces hisAmerican citizenship,joins the CommunistParty, and becomescitizen of Ghana atage of 95

27 August,W.E.B. Du Bois diesin Accra

Malcolm X visitsLondon but is refusedentry to France.On 21 February, he isassassinated inNew York

Opening of MbariMbayo Club inOshogbo, Nigeria;workshops conductedby many artistsincluding JacobLawrence andGeorgina Beier

First Notting HillCarnival procession,London. The Battle ofAlgiers, film, directedby Gillo Pontevorco

Frantz Fanon publishesThe Wretched of theEarth. School of FineArts established atUniversity of Nigeria,Nsukka

Brazilian art movementTropicália initiated,influenced byAntropofagia

Members of Zaria ArtsSociety form theSociety of NigerianArtists (SNA). Centrefor ContemporaryCultural Studies,Birmingham (UK) isestablished byRichard Hoggart

Caribbean Artists’Movement (CAM) isfounded by writersEdward KamauBrathwaite, John LaRose and AndrewSalkey

1961

1962

1963

1964

Eastern Nigerian artistsleave Lagos and joinwar effort

15 January and 29July, military coupsd’état in Nigeria;Eastern Nigeriansliving in NorthernNigeria massacred

Nigerian Civil War(Biafra War)

World Festival of BlackArts, Dakar, Senegal

1965

1966

1967

–70

POLITICALBACKGROUND

KEY POLITICALEVENTS AND PEOPLE

ATLANTICTHOUGHT

ART ANDLITERARY EVENTS

ARTMOVEMENTS

Kara Walker born.Fela Kuti visits NorthAmerica and isintroduced to BlackPanther ideology bySandra Smith

Leaders of theTropicália movement,Caetano Veloso andGilberto Gil, arearrested because seenas political threat(ending the movement).4 April, Martin LutherKing, Jr assassinated.16 October, MexicoCity: African-Americanathletes Tommie Smithand John Carlos arepictured controversiallyraising their fists in asalute of Black Poweras they collect theirOlympic medals.Chris Ofili born

Festival of the Arts,University of Ife,Ile-Ife,Nigeria.The CaribbeanArtists’ Movement(CAM) controversiallyexhibit at the Houseof Commons, London

First exhibitionin Britain ofcontemporary Africanart at the Camden ArtsCentre (including workby Uzo Egonu)

Nathan HugginspublishesHarlem Renaissance.Caribbean Artists inEngland exhibitionorganised by CAM,CommonwealthArt Gallery

Ladislas Bugner et al.edit and publish TheImage of the Black inWestern Art,4 volumes

Festac 77 – The SecondFestival of Black andAfrican Arts andCulture, held inNigeria. Fela Kuti andthe Afrika 70 releaseZombie

Rasheed Araeen,‘Preliminary Notes fora Black Manifesto’,published in the firstissue of Black Phoenix

Riots break out whenFela Kuti performs‘Zombie’ in Accra,Ghana; he is bannedfrom returning toGhana

1968

1969

Josephine Baker dies.Elijah Muhammad dies

1971

1975

1976

1977

1978

POLITICALBACKGROUND

KEY POLITICALEVENTS AND PEOPLE

ATLANTICTHOUGHT

ART ANDLITERARY EVENTS

ARTMOVEMENTS

Margaret Thatcherbecomes Britain’s firstfemale Prime Minister.Start of ThatcheriteConservatism

End of white minorityrule in Zimbabwe

Bob Marley performsat the independenceceremony forZimbabwe

David Hammons isarrested forperforming Pissed Off,urinating in public ona Richard Serrasculpture, New YorkCity

Primitivism inTwentieth Century Art:Affinity of the Tribaland the Modern,exhibition, Museumof Modern Art, NewYork. Rasheed Araeenpublishes MakingMyself Visible (MMV):Rasheed Araeen,with an introductionby Guy Brett

Black Cultural Archives(BCA) established,378 Coldharbour Lane,Brixton

Aaron Douglas dies.Norman Lewis dies

Bob Marley dies

1979

1980

Eddie Chambers andKeith Piper formthe Pan-AfrikanConnection

Wifredo Lam dies.Ronald Moody dies

Live Aid charity popconcert raises£40 million forfamine relief inEast Africa

Sankofa Film andVideo Collective,founded byIsaac Julienin London

1981

1982

Black Audio FilmCollective, founded byJohn Akomfrah, ReeceAuguiste, EdwardGeorge, Lina Gopaul,Avril Johnson, DavidLawson and TrevorMathison, in Hackney,London

1982

–88

1983

–92

An archive for blackBritish artists isestablished inSt Martins School ofArt library, now part ofthe Chelsea School ofArt (Liz Ward, librarian).‘Black Art/WhiteInstitutions’conference, RiversideStudios, London

1984

1985

Sankofa Film and Video Collective, founded by Matina Attille, Maureen Blackwood, Isaac Julien, Robert Crusz and Nadine Marsh Edwards in London

POLITICALBACKGROUND

KEY POLITICALEVENTS AND PEOPLE

ATLANTICTHOUGHT

ART ANDLITERARY EVENTS

ARTMOVEMENTS

Eddie Chambersfounds and becomesdirector of African andAsian Visual ArtistsArchive (AAVAA)(Bristol). HandsworthSongs by Black AudioFilm Collective(61mins), directed byJohn Akomfrah

Paul Gilroy publishesThere Ain’t No Black inthe Union Jack: TheCultural Politics of Raceand Nation. HarlemRenaissance: Art ofBlack Americaexhibition, StudioMuseum in Harlem.Publication offirst issue of Third Text:Critical Perspectives onContemporary Art andCulture

Jean-MichelBasquiat dies.Romare Bearden dies

1986

Autograph: Associationof Black Photographers(ABP) established byMark Sealy. Black Art:Plotting the Courseexhibition, OldhamArt Gallery (travels toBluecoat Gallery,Liverpool, 1989),curated by EddieChambers

1987

Looking For Langstonby Isaac Julien,16mm black and whitefilm with sound.Magiciens de la Terreexhibition, CentreGeorges Pompidou,Paris. The Other Story:Afro-Asian Artists inPost-War Britain,Hayward Gallery,London, curated byRasheed Araeen

1988

1989

Nelson Mandela isreleased after 27years in prison,returns as head ofthe African NationalCongress.

British Prime MinisterMargaret Thatcher isforced out of office

Contemporary AfricanArtists: ChangingTradition, StudioMuseum in Harlem,New York. Africanartists also shown atthe Venice Biennale

1990

POLITICALBACKGROUND

KEY POLITICALEVENTS AND PEOPLE

ATLANTICTHOUGHT

ART ANDLITERARY EVENTS

ARTMOVEMENTS

Isaac Julien is afounding member ofNormal Films,London

Official end ofApartheid in SouthAfrica

First multi-racialelections in 350 years,South Africa; NelsonMandela inauguratedas President

Stephen Lawrence ismurdered in London ina racial attack by whiteyouths; all four mensentenced to jail formurder

Paul Gilroy publishesThe Black Atlantic:Modernity and DoubleConsciousness

Kobena Mercerpublishes Welcometo the Jungle: NewPositions in BlackCultural Studies

DAK’ART, The DakarBiennial forContemporaryInternational Art,is founded

London’s ElectricCinema, PortobelloRoad (1910) is thefirst cinema in Londonto screen filmsrelating exclusivelyto black culture.Second InternationalSymposium onNigerian Art, Lagos.Haile Gerima’sSankofa is released

Black Male:Representations ofMasculinity inContemporaryAmerican Art,Whitney Museum ofAmerican Art,New York, curated byThelma Golden.Institute ofInternational VisualArts (InIVA) isestablished (mergingThird Text and OVA),London.Nka: Journal ofContemporary AfricanArt founded by OkwuiEnwezor, New York

Michael Jackson’ssingle ‘Black or White’released from hisalbum Dangerous.Africa Hoy, curatedby André Magnin,opens at CentroAtlantico deArte Moderno,Las Palmas de GranCanaria; travels tothe Saatchi Gallery,London under the titleOut of Africa

Kwame AnthonyAppiah publishesIn my Father’s House:Africa in thePhilosophy of Culture

1991

1992

1994

1993

POLITICALBACKGROUND

KEY POLITICALEVENTS AND PEOPLE

ATLANTICTHOUGHT

ART ANDLITERARY EVENTS

ARTMOVEMENTS

Africa ’95 festival ofart, England. Relatedshows include SevenStories about ModernArt in Africa,Whitechapel ArtGallery, London;Self Evident, IkonGallery, Birmingham;Africa: The Art of aContinent, RoyalAcademy of Arts,London; Mirage:Enigma of Race,Difference and Desire,ICA, London.The Black WomenArtists study group isestablished, London

1995

Picturing Blackness inBritish Art 1700s–1900s, Tate Gallery,London, curated byPaul Gilroy. In/Sight:African Photography,1940 to the Present,exhibition at theSolomon R.Guggenheim Museum,New York. Isaac Julien,Frantz Fanon: BlackSkin, White Maskbroadcast on BBCtelevision

1996

Rhapsodies in Blackexhibition, HaywardGallery, London

Chris Ofili included inthe Young BritishArtists’ exhibitionSensation, RoyalAcademy of Arts,London

1997

Okwui Enwezor isartistic director ofDocumenta XI.Chris Ofili wins theprestigious TurnerPrize, and is chosento represent Britain atthe Venice Biennale

1998

Peace treaty signedin Lome, Togo,ending the civil warin Sierra Leone19

99

Jacob Lawrence dies

2000

POLITICALBACKGROUND

KEY POLITICALEVENTS AND PEOPLE

ATLANTICTHOUGHT

ART ANDLITERARY EVENTS

ARTMOVEMENTS

Isaac Julien isnominated for theTurner Prize for hisfilm The Long Roadto Mazatián (1999)

Okwui Enwezor,Stuart Hall and otherspublish DemocracyUnrealized: Documenta11 – Platform 1

Freestyle exhibition,Studio Museum inHarlem, New York

Black Romantic: TheFigurative Impulse inContemporary African-American Art, StudioMuseum in Harlem.The Upper Room byChris Ofili exhibited aspart of Freedom OneDay at the VictoriaMiro Gallery, London

2001

2002

Africa ’05 Festival,London. Africa Remix:Contemporary Art of aContinent, HaywardGallery.David A. Bailey,Ian Baucom and SoniaBoyce edit and publishShades of Black:Assembling Black Artsin 1980s’ Britain.Exhibition Back toBlack: Art, Cinema andthe Racial Imaginary,Whitechapel Gallery,London, curated byRichard J. Powell,David A. Bailey andPetrine Archer-Straw

Frequency, StudioMuseum in Harlem,New York.David Hammons:The UnauthorisedRetrospective,controversialexhibition at TripleCandie, Harlem,curated by ShellyBancroft and PeterNesbett, featuresphotocopies andprintouts in place ofthe artist’s actualworks in protestagainst five years ofunsuccessfulcampaigning for aHammons exhibition

Coco Fusco and BrianWallis edit and publishOnly Skin Deep:Changing Visions ofthe American Self,with an essay byNicholas Mirzoeff

Hurricane Katrinadestroys huge areas ofNew Orleans, UnitedStates, in August.The city’sreconstructionprogramme iscriticised for racialdiscriminationagainst blackresidents, who makeup the majority ofthe population

Chris Ofili launchesthe music projectFreeness, in which hefinds contemporaryalternatives to, andtries to subvert themeaning of,‘urban music’

2003

2005

2006

POLITICALBACKGROUND

KEY POLITICALEVENTS AND PEOPLE

ATLANTICTHOUGHT

ART ANDLITERARY EVENTS

ARTMOVEMENTS

Opening of RivingtonPlace (Autograph ABP).First purpose-builtcultural centre sinceHayward Gallery in1968, London.Lorna Simpson,20-year survey of theartist’s work, WhitneyMuseum of AmericanArt, New York

Bicentenary of theAbolition Act, 1807.Museum in Docklandsopens the firstpermanent display inLondon relating to thetransatlantic slavetrade, London, Sugar,Slavery. InternationalSlavery Museumopens in Liverpool,England

Barack Obama isinaugurated as the44th, and firstAfrican-American,President of theUnited States

2007

Kara Walker:My Complement, MyEnemy, My Oppressor,My Love, WhitneyMuseum of AmericanArt, New York. Flow,Studio Museum inHarlem, New York

2008

Archive for CulturallyDiverse Photographyopens at AutographABP, Rivington Place

2009

2010

Black Cultural Archiveswill move to RaleighHall, Brixton20

11

Ryerson PhotographyGallery and ResearchCentre, Gould St,Toronto, Canada toopen. It will house theBlack Star HistoricalBlack & WhitePhotographyCollection

2012