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Pan-African Interventions in the Museum

Saturday 22nd August 2026

Presented as part of the Barbican’s landmark Project a Black Planet season, Pan-African Interventions in the Museum is a thought-provoking programme of films exploring the complex relationship between museums, African cultural heritage and the legacy of colonial collecting. Bringing together historic and contemporary works, the event examines how museums have shaped, interpreted and, at times, obscured African histories, while highlighting the artists and filmmakers challenging these narratives through powerful acts of creative resistance.

 

The programme is anchored by You Hide Me (1970), the influential documentary by Ghanaian filmmaker Nii Kwate Owoo, which exposed the vast collections of African artefacts held in the British Museum and questioned why so many objects of cultural significance remained hidden from public view. More than fifty years after its release, the film continues to be regarded as one of the most important cinematic examinations of restitution, cultural ownership and the legacy of empire.

Audiences will also see Statues Also Die, the groundbreaking 1953 essay film by Alain Resnais, Chris Marker and Ghislain Cloquet, alongside Et les chiens se taisaient by pioneering filmmaker Sarah Maldoror. Together, these works challenge conventional museum narratives and ask whose histories are preserved, whose voices are represented and how cultural institutions continue to shape public understanding of African art and history. The programme also includes contemporary films by Hope Strickland, Emma Wolukau-Wanambwa, Stan Lathan and Ayo Akingbade, demonstrating how today’s artists continue to explore questions of memory, identity, representation and belonging.

Following the screenings, audiences will have the opportunity to hear from a panel of artists and filmmakers whose work engages with archives, museums and Black cultural history. The discussion will explore how museums are changing, the continuing debate around the return of African cultural treasures and the role artists play in challenging institutional narratives while imagining new ways of understanding shared histories.

Part of the wider Project a Black Planet programme, which includes more than fifty exhibitions, talks, screenings and performances across the Barbican Centre, Pan-African Interventions in the Museum offers a compelling opportunity to reflect on the power of film to question historical narratives, confront the legacies of colonialism and reimagine the future of museums through a Pan-African lens. Whether you are interested in Black history, cinema, contemporary art or museum studies, this unique event promises an afternoon of challenging ideas and inspiring conversation.

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