Revue Noire magazine

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Revue Noire is a contemporary cultural magazine specialised on Africa. Revue Noire was created in France in 1991 and has and had a major role in studying, promoting, facilitating access and comprehension around African artistic productions in all its fields, disciplines and approaches.

Revue Noire was born in 1991 to prove there's art in Africa. Between 1991 and 2001 34 issues were published; since 2001 Revue Noire continued its activities as publishing house and on-line magazine but papery publication was interrupted.

The magazine was based in Paris but had done researches in many cities and countries. Revue Noire was the press agency that published the magazine, a publishing house and a film producer that realized documentaries, records, art shows and events.

The director was Jean Loup Pivin, editor in chief Simon Njami, editing director Bruno Tilliette, artistic director Pascal Martin Saint Léon. The magazine was founded by Jean Loup Pivin, Simon Njami, Bruno Tilliette and Pascal Martin Saint Léon; then Pierre Gaudibert, Jacques Soulillou, André Magnin (only for the first issue), Francisco d’Almeida, Everlyn Nicodemus, N’Goné Fall (editor assistant since 1994 and then editing director since 1999), Clementine Deliss, Etienne Féau and Isabelle Boni-Claverie became part of the editing board. Among those who collaborated Yacouba Konaté and Brahim Alaoui.

Since the beginning Revue Noire was characterized for monographic dossier, focused more on photographic representation of a beautiful Africa than on a critic point of view. However Revue Noire is still nowadays an important tool to have an artistic outlook: visual arts, photography, architecture, dance, theatre, literature, fashion and cinema. Among the most important subjects: Abidjan, Libreville, Dakar, Kinshasa, Namibia, Camerun, Cape Verde, South Africa, Marocco, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Nigeria, Togo, Ghana, Benin, Djibuti, Etiopia, Eritrea, Mozambico, Madagascar, Zimbabwe, Angola, Carribean , Indian Ocean, Brasil, Canada, African London and Paris, African artists, AIDS, African cities, art and gastronomy. Revue Noire's aim was, not to stimulate a dialogue between the so-called Western World and Africa, however to create new prospectives. A new perception of Africa as a pulsating, rich and contemporary country can be a starting point from which establish a different way of relating with its people.

At the beginning the majority of the audience was European and Western. Most of the readers were from North America, Europe and Japan. In Africa mostly intellectuals read Revue Noire. Languages used were English and French.