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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
World
Sean Morrison

Black Lives Matter becomes first movement to top ArtReview Power 100 list

Black Lives Matter activists in London (Picture: PA)

Black Lives Matter has topped this year’s ArtReview Power 100 list, marking the first time a movement has topped the annual ranking.

Each year the magazine lists the most important individuals, groups and campaigns in contemporary art.

Black Lives Matter (BLM) "has impelled and accelerated change at evert level" in the art world, the ArtReview said.

"Both an explicit movement and a dispersed idea, BLM has come to symbolise a global reckoning on racial justice and a paradigm shift in contemporary culture," it added.

The death of unarmed black man George Floyd in police custody in May sparked Black Lives Matter protests around the world.

Second in the ranking was Indonesian art collective ruangrupa followed by the academics Felwine Sarr and Benedicte Savoy.

The #MeToo movement against sexual abuse and harassment came fourth, while philosopher Fred Moten came fifth.

This year's list featured a greater emphasis on ideas and values than previous years, which is usually focused more on individuals.

The 2019 rankings saw the director of New York's Museum Of Modern Art (MoMA), Glenn D Lowry, top the list.

The ArtReview Power 100 was first published in 2002. 

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