Cover image: Detail of flier for 70th anniversary symposium
Artwork credit: Obou Gbais, L’assemblée de l’émancipation, 2026

In September 1956, African and Afro-descendant students and artists gathered in the Descartes Amphitheater at the Sorbonne in Paris for the First Congress of Black Writers and Artists.

Organized by the journal and publishing house, Présence Africaine, this iconic event brought together many of the most prominent intellectual figures in the Black world of the day.  They included Alioune Diop (Présence Africaine's founder), Léopold Sédar Senghor, Aimé Césaire, Richard Wright, Cheikh Anta Diop, Frantz Fanon, and Édouard Glissant.

(In the speech he delivered near the end of the conference, Richard Wright called the participants' and attendees' attention to the fact that women were neither invited to serve as delegates or nor to address the assembly.)

At a time when European colonial empires were crumbling, the congress asserted and expanded upon ideals that emerged from the Negritude movement—the need to recognize African and Afro-descendant cultures as essential forces in universal thought, art, and history. It affirmed the creative power of the Black world and established culture as a vehicle for emancipation, dignity, and dialogue between peoples.

Topics discussed focused on the most pressing issues of the day: the legacies of slavery and the slave trade, contemporary colonization in Africa, and racism.

Aimé Césaire, Jacques Stéphan Alexis, and Richard Wright at the Congress
Source: Wikimedia Commons
Image attributed to florocky
CC-BY-SA-4.0

The 50th anniversary of the congress was organized in Paris by Harvard's W.E.B. Dubois Center and UNESCO, with the opening day of activity being held at the Sorbonne and the remainder of the conference taking place at UNESCO headquarters in the 15th arrondissement.

Photo of Sorbonne sign for 50th anniversary celebration
© Entrée to Black Paris

This week, the Sorbonne will host a symposium that celebrates the 70th anniversary of this iconic conference.

Flier for 70th anniversary symposium
Created by Présence Africaine
Source: Panthéon-Sorbonne Université de Paris I Website

On Friday, September 16, at the Centre Sorbonne's Descartes Amphitheater, a series of roundtable discussions will examine the following topics:

• Afro-diasporic youth and book clubs
• Art, History, and Transmission
• Media: What strategies to amplify our voices?
• Intersectional Commitments: Voices from the Past to the Present
• Rehumanizing African and Black Subjects in France Today

A ceremony for the unveiling of a plaque that commemorates the 1956 congress will take place from 12:30 PM until 2:00 PM.

The organizing committee for the symposium consists of the Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne; a collective of faculty-researchers (Lotte Arndt, Sophie Cras, Florence Brisset-Foucault, Anne Hugon, Marie-Emmanuelle Pommerolle); Tamandra Geny (AZZ-ART, MuCAT); the Institute of African Worlds (IMAF); and Sarah Frioux-Salgas (Musée du Quai Branly-Jacques Chirac). Présence Africaine is contributing the historical component of the exhibition and the presentation of archival films and documentaries.

As a tangible acknowledgment of the importance the original congress placed on Black culture, AZZ-ART has partnered with Présence Africaine and the Sorbonne to present an exhibition of works by  contemporary artists whose practices and perspectives extend the lines of inquiry first opened in 1956.  The show has been mounted in the university's Galerie Soufflot - Centre Panthéon and will be on display through October 30, 2026.  The curators are Tamandra Gény and Florence Alexis.

The vernissage (opening) for the exhibition will take place on the evening of Thursday, September 17.

Graphic for Congrès 56
Source: Panthéon-Sorbonne Université de Paris I Website

Register for the symposium HERE (official language is French).

Register for the exhibition opening HERE.