At the Venice Biennale, two internationally acclaimed black artists, the British Sonia Boyce and the American Simone Leigh, received the most important prizes.
The Düsseldorf artist Katharina Fritsch also received a Golden Lion for her life's work on Saturday.
In the British Pavilion Boyce shows the power of female singing.
The artist and professor of black art and design has been an important representative in the fight for recognition for female artists and against racism for decades.
Leigh, who also designed the US pavilion this year, confidently addresses the role and awakening of the black community with her large-format sculptures.
Fritsch, internationally known for her sculptures, opens the central space in the Giardini of Venice with a work.
Leigh fills the same position with a large sculpture in the second exhibition space, Arsenale.
The German Pavilion went unnoticed.
There, Berlin-based artist Maria Eichhorn uncovered the structure of the Nazi-modified building and thus its history.
The New York-based curator Cecilia Alemani has invited 213 artists from 58 countries with more than 1,500 works to the exhibition "The Milk of Dreams".
The title goes back to a children's book by the surrealist artist Leonora Carrington (1917–2011), who describes in it a magical world that is constantly reinventing itself through imagination.
In addition, 80 nations will present themselves with their country pavilions.
Sonia Boyce also sees the prize as a sign of the international black art scene.
"We are here.
We're not going away anymore," Boyce told the German Press Agency on Saturday after the award in Venice about the importance of the award.
"There's more fabulous things going to happen," Boyce said.
There is a tremendous amount of talent among black artists.
"I can't wait for others to assert themselves."