Revue Noire - History

History

Revue Noire was created in 1991 in Paris with the objective of demonstrating that "there is art in Africa". The name relates to the Revue Blanche, a French magazine of the Fifties, to Josephine Baker and to Paris of the Thirties when there was a discussion about "revues nègres".

The magazine was founded by Jean Loup Pivin, Simon Njami, Bruno Tilliette and Pascal Martin Saint Léon; over time the editorial board has also included Pierre Gaudibert, Jacques Soulillou, André Magnin (only for the first issue), Francisco d'Almeida, Everlyn Nicodemus, N'Goné Fall (editor assistant in 1994 and chief editor in 1999), Clémentine Deliss, Etienne Féau and Isabelle Boni-Claverie. The contributors to the magazine change according to the theme and the country on which the magazine focusses; Yacouba Konaté and Brahim Alaoui have been among the collaborators.

Between 1991 and 2001 the magazine published 34 issues. In 2001 Revue Noire was continued as a publishing house and online magazine, but it stopped its paper quarterly publication. In 2010 a new editorial project was launched.

Revue Noire is a magazine but also a publishing house, a production company for documentary films, short films, videos, and music. Some issues of the magazine include music CDs, exhibitions and events. In particular its two anthologies on contemporary African art and on contemporary African photography are major publications in the field.