West Port were appointed in 2025 by the Barbican Centre to deliver the exhibition design for Project a Black Planet: The Art and Culture of Panafrica, a landmark exhibition opening in the summer of 2026. Tracing the profound influence of Pan-Africanism on global culture from the 1920s to the present day, the expansive showcase features a massive collection of over 300 works, including paintings, independent journals, and films.

While Pan-Africanism has historically been examined primarily through the lens of twentieth-century sociopolitical history, anti-colonial resistance, and transnational solidarity, this exhibition offers a groundbreaking shift in perspective. With an exhibition design theme meant to evoke world-building, Project a Black Planet stands as the first major international survey to centre the critical role that artists and cultural producers played in actively shaping, designing, and visualizing these transnational visions.

Project a Black Planet: The Art and Culture of Panafrica, Installation View, 11 Jun – 6 Sep 2026 © Max Colson/Barbican Art Gallery.