Special Event European capitals and the Black Atlantic. A musical journey into Black Europe Add to calendar 2026-02-16 08:00 2026-02-23 19:00 Europe/Rome European capitals and the Black Atlantic. A musical journey into Black Europe Badia Fiesolana, Lower Loggia 16-20 February 2026 YYYY-MM-DD Print Share: Share on Facebook Share on BlueSky Share on X Share on LinkedIn Send by email Scheduled dates February 16 2026 08:00 - 19:00 CET Badia Fiesolana, Lower Loggia, 16-20 February 2026 Feb 23 2026 08:00 - 19:00 CET Villa Salviati, Courtyard, 23-27 February 2026 Show all dates Organised by Department of History Exhibition in the context of Black History Month 2026 World music is a term typically used to categorise all musical styles that fall outside the dominant Western canon. Think African, Asian, or Latin American traditions. The concept implicitly creates a distance between music that is easily categorised and recognised within Western sensibilities, and music perceived as too 'foreign' or 'traditional'. Under this logic, world music is constructed as everything that Europe is not. But is that really the case? Each year, the 'world music' sections of record shops, as well as award categories at events such as the Grammy Awards, feature numerous African, Latin American, and Caribbean artists. This exhibition argues that a closer look at the genres they represent reveals deep intercontinental linkages characteristic of the Black Atlantic. Coined by British sociologist and cultural theorist Paul Gilroy, the term refers to the transnational and transcultural space shaped by the movements of African-descended peoples across the Atlantic during and after slavery and colonialism. It highlights the hybrid cultural forms, especially found in musical expressions, that emerged from these circulations and that blur the boundaries of nation, continent, and tradition. This exhibition explores the music born of these encounters and the ways it has been shaped, transformed, and circulated through diasporic networks in European cities. Some of these genres can trace their genealogies directly to London, Paris, or Lisbon; others were reformed and consolidated in these cities. Together, they tell the story of a Europe that is Black...in music!