Cover Image:  NYU - Black Portraiture[s] signage
© Entrée to Black Paris

Ten years ago, the first Black Portraiture[s] conference took place in Paris. 

Flier for first Black Portrature[s] conference

This event paved the way for six additional conferences of the same name, held over the years in the U.S., Italy, Canada (virtually) and South Africa, that have explored the representation of Black people in the arts from numerous perspectives. Themes presented include "The Color of Silence," "Memory and the Archive," and "Blackness as Absent/ed Presence." 

Thousands of scholars, artists, and activists from around the world attended or participated in lectures, round tables, screenings, and other activities at these meetings. 

Having missed the inaugural conference in January 2013, I was determined to attend this year's event.

It did not disappoint!

Power by Alexis Peskine - 2017 (detail)
Image from Black Portraiture[s] Website

The two-day conference opened at NYU Paris at midday on Monday, May 29.  Panel discussions on "Black Film," "The Politics of Pleasure," and "The Myth: Black Women Unflattened" captured the imaginations of the largely female audience of ~200 people. 

Title slide from one of the "Black Film" presentations
© Entrée to Black Paris

Audience at NYU
© Entrée to Black Paris

This was followed by screenings of excerpts of two films - a science fiction/gaming video by Ayoka Chenzira and a documentary about Vertamae Smart-Grosvenor - and a full screening of Rokhaya Diallo's Où Sont les Noirs.  The latter production presented several viewpoints on the relative dearth of opportunities for Black people in French film and television.

An opening reception brought attendees together on the 8th floor of the NYU building, where fabulous weather, finger foods, and wine and soft drinks eased attendees into lively conversation and set the tone for the remainder of the conference.

Audience at NYU
© Entrée to Black Paris

Monique Y. Wells at NYU reception
© Jordan Walls
Morehouse College

The following day, the conference convened at 9:30 AM at the magnificent Théâtre Claude Levi-Strauss at the Musée du quai Branly - Jacques Chirac. 

Signage at Théâtre Claude Levi-Strauss
© Entrée to Black Paris

The day began with an inspiring keynote conversation between artists Amy Sherald (creator of the portrait of Michelle Obama) and Raphaël Barontini (whose work I encountered for the first time at the Studio des Acacias art gallery in Paris in 2021). 

Paris galerist Mariane Ibrahim introduced the two artists (her gallery hosted the reception at the end of the second day of activity), and Professor Cheryl Finley, Inaugural Director of the Atlanta University Center Art History & Curatorial Studies Collective, moderated the discussion.

Keynote panel and image of Michelle Obama portrait
© Entrée to Black Paris

Amy Sherald
© Entrée to Black Paris

Raphaël Barontini
© Entrée to Black Paris

This was followed by a morning of parallel sessions that explored "The Act of Portraiture," "Writers from the Diaspora," "Contemporary Voices (for artists)," and "The Black Paris Archive: Interrogating Colonialist Visual Culture in Public Space."

Title slide from one of the "Contemporary Voices" presentations
© Entrée to Black Paris

Alexis Peskine, creator of the artwork that is featured on the advertisements for the conference, was a panelist for the this discussion.

Alexis Peskine
© Entrée to Black Paris

Afternoon sessions were split between panel discussions called "Le Grand Duc: Charleston, Chitlins, and Champagne," "Black Curators Matter," and "Black Paris," and full-length screenings of AI: African Intelligence by Manthia Diawara and Saint Omer by Alice Diop.

Throughout both days of the event, praise was continually heaped on Professor Deborah Willis, Chair of the Department of Photography & Imaging and Director of the Center for Black Visual Culture at NYU, for her vision and leadership in creating and hosting the conferences over the years. 

Dr. Deborah Willis
© Entrée to Black Paris

Students from NYU Abu Dhabi, Morehouse and Spelman, and other schools were bathed not only in the rich and varied exchanges from the conference sessions, but also in multiple opportunities to meet and converse with some of the most preeminent scholars in their fields.

Little Africa Village, the cultural and touristic agency that provides opportunities to discover the best of African culture in Paris, hosted the closing reception on the evening of Wednesday, May 31 in conjunction with the opening of a photography exhibition featuring works from Henry Roy's publication entitled Regards Noir.