Categories Art First issue 1991 Company Editions Revue Noire | Frequency Quarterly Final issue 2001 | |
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Editor Jean Loup Pivin and Simon Njami | ||
Revue Noire was a quarterly printed magazine dedicated to African contemporary art, published from 1991 to 2001 by Editions Revue Noire.
Contents
History and profile
Revue Noire was founded in 1991 by Jean Loup Pivin, Pascal Martin Saint Lóon, Bruno Tilliette, and Simon Njami. Their goal was to give high-quality printed attention to contemporary African art. It covered varying subjects from sculpture, painting, photography, dance, theatre, music and literature. There were issues on African cities, AIDS, and even gastronomy. Design played a key role in forwarding its objectives and Revue Noire has been described as "glossy, fashion savvy and distinctly Parisian". Images were combined with largely informative texts that highlighted artistic responses to the international media and the touristic gaze as well as the production of discourses of cultural identity on the continent, the framing the African body, urban sites and rapidly changing dynamics between African aesthetic values and Western influences.
From the beginning Revue Noire was aimed at the widest possible audience of those with an interest in art, Africa, or intercultural subject matter. Distributed internationally, it was bilingual (English/French), sometimes adding texts in Portuguese. This language policy and its focus on specific regions - from Abidjan to London, Kinshasa to Paris, Accra, Teshie or Johannesburg to New York or Tokyo - not only facilitated access to information on African artistic production but also forged new links between artist based on the continent and those working in the diaspora.
After 34 issues, Editions Revue Noire interrupted the printing of the journal in 2001 and refocused its attention on publishing books, curating exhibitions and posting occasional online content.
Issues
The magazine focuses on artists' monographs and on specific countries or geographic areas where the editorial team produces research on arts (which include visual art, photography, music, literature, dance, theatre, fashion but also architecture and food). Some issues are focuses on a specific field.