In 1989, a large-scale exhibition in Paris bringing together over 100 artists, around half from the ‘West’ and half from elsewhere, contributed to a radical shift in the Western art system.

Magiciens de la Terre (Magicians of the Earth) argued for the universality of the creative impulse and offered direct aesthetic experience of contemporary works of art made globally. This sprawling landmark exhibition concurrently took place at The Grande halle de la Villette and the Centre Georges Pompidou.

In this fourth book in Afterall’s Exhibition Histories series, photographs and gallery plans reconstruct the exhibition in detail. Essays provide an extended examination of its history and context and look at the discursive and curatorial legacy, and responses from the time. Included are interviews with Jean-Hubert Martin by Benjamin H.D. Buchloh, and with Alfredo Jaar by Francisco Godoy Vega.

Published with Afterall Books