An academic conference committed to the study of African diasporic art and culture, Black Portraiture[s] initially began as a colloquium on African American art at Harvard University convened by Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. with Dr. Deborah Willis and Manthia Diawara of New York University. Then it went on to Paris, becoming an international conference series, co-hosted by Awam Amkpa, Professor at NYU Tisch School of the Arts and Cheryl Finley, Inaugural Director of the Atlanta University Center Collective for the Study of Art History and Curatorial Studies, Black Portraiture[s] now attracts hundreds of scholars, artists, and activists from around the world each convening. The conference was first held in Paris in 2013 and has since taken place in cities as diverse as New York, Florence, Toronto, and Johannesburg. Black Portraiture[s] now attracts hundreds of scholars, artists, and activists from around the world at each convening.