Alice Diop to Curate Miu Miu’s 2026 Art Basel Paris Show
The director’s first exhibition will explore representations of Black women throughout art history.
Summary
French filmmaker Alice Diop is the recipient of Miu Miu's 2026 commission for the Art Basel Paris Public Program
Diop will premiere her first exhibition, "Geste de Consolation (Gesture of Consolation)," during the fair in October
Alongside her own work, Diop has curated a selection of pieces by artists that inspire her, including Zanele Muholi, Mary Lee Bendolph, Simone Leigh, and more
French filmmaker Alice Diop is up next for Miu Miu’s Art Basel Paris public program next month, marking her first-ever exhibition.
The project, called “Geste de Consolation (Gesture of Consolation),” is billed as “a celebratory chorus of Black creativity,” per a press statement. The exhibition will transform Palais d’Iéna — home to France’s Economic, Social and Environmental Council and Miu Miu’s runway shows — with a “montage” of film, photography, sculpture, poetry, dance, music, and performance.
Building on “Fragments for Venus,” her 2025 short for Miu Miu Women Tales, Diop’s upcoming show explores how representations of Black women through history have shaped today’s politics of looking, gathering contributions by those that have artistically “nourished her”: South African photographer Zanele Muholi, Gee’s Bend quilter Mary Lee Bendolph, sculptor Simone Leigh, composer Angel Bat Dawid, and all-woman jazz trio Sistazz of the Nitty-Gritty.
“I want my curation to center on acts of consolation conceived by Black women artists, each active in their own discipline, to repair the fetishizing gaze to which centuries of art history have confined us, ” she said.
Of the four environments on view is a living room and library installation, carpeted in motifs by Bendolph, featuring her favorite books. Another room, a screening space, presents a montage of archival film and image excerpts that have shaped her gaze as a filmmaker.
This is the third Miu Miu-backed exhibition at the French mega-fair since the two launched a public program partnership in 2024. Diop is the third artist chosen by Miuccia Prada to participate, following Helen Marten’s 30 Blizzards exhibition and Tales & Tellers by Goshka Macuga and Elvira Dyangani Ose in recent years.
“Geste de Consolation” is set to open to the public on October 21 and will remain on view until October 25. Head to Miu Miu’s website for more info on how to book a guided tour.
