Art from the Congo comes to life in Paris

The exhibition’s lively and impressive main painting by JP Mika

Africa is still one of my favourite continents. Both Poor John and I lived there for a few years, and spent many more remarkable months (in the 1970s and again in 2009) travelling through a swag of countries on the back of a truck.

So we were delighted to make a side trip to the Congo while we were in France last month.

You might not know that there are two Congos, There’s Congo Brazzaville (slightly more peaceful) and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (known formerly as the Belgian Congo or Zaire).

Our brief side trip took us to the latter Congo (or DRC), which is also the more violent and war-torn. Civil war has raged there since 1996 and more than 5.4 million people have died in the conflict. That death toll is almost unbelievable and millions more have been maimed, raped, left homeless and all sorts of other travesties. If you don’t know much about the place, you can learn more here.

by Bodo

by Mika

by Chérin

While the war continues to be heartbreaking and horrific, there’s much more to the country. We had a short but peaceful time there and a most amazing turkey sandwich, but more about that another time.

The Parisian side trip was all about art—especially art produced over the last 90 years. The artworks, which I hope will make an international tour, are currently on display at the Cartier Foundation in Paris.

The exhibit, called Beauté Congo, features 350 pieces by 41 artists. There are paintings, sculptures, photographs and even some music. Scattered amongst the artworks are music pods, where you can tune into music that reinforces the themes of the art pieces.

African sculptures depicting cities of the future

About some of the works

This is the first-ever retrospective of art from the DRC. Most of the pieces have never been displayed internationally, and have instead ‘lived’ in private collections in Belgium, France and Switzerland. Others have come from Belgium’s colonial archives, while a few others have come from the artists themselves.

While I never got pictures of this practice, it is common for DRC artists to hang their paintings outside their studios for all the world to see. This fits with the exhibition itself.

Many artworks reflected DRC’s street life—bars, music, dance, flamboyant clothes and cars. In fact, the exhibition’s vibrant main photo (and the one featured on the cover of the exhibition’s book) is of street dancing. It was Poor John’s and my favourite piece. It’s by JP Mika who was born in Kinshasa in 1980.

by Lukanga

by Bela

close-up of painting by Bela

by Kibwanga

close-up by Kibwanga

Several early artists had pieces that reminded us of Aboriginal art. They were by Sylvestre Kaballa, Mode Munta, Lukanga and Mwenze Kibwanga.

There were two interesting sculptures by people whose names I failed to catch. Sorry. I was sure I’d photographed the ID cards, but can’t find them now.

We really loved some of the ancient pieces from the Belgian archives. These included pieces by husband and wife, Antoinette and Albert Lubaki. The images are near the bottom of this post.

The battle against mosquitos by Ledy

I also got a kick out of Cheik Ledy’s painting of the battle against mosquitos. He/she died in 1997 and I hope it wasn’t from malaria.

We spent longer at the exhibit than we’d planned for and have no regrets. The exhibit was supposed to end this month (November), but it’s been extended through January. Great decision.

Painting by the Lubakis

Painting by the Lubakis

Painting by the Lubakis

Yes, we went shopping

There are two floors of works and another floor of sales. We actually got sucked into the sales, which is most unusual for us.

One purchase was an overview of the exhibit. After Paris, we were going to Belgium to stay with a friend who taught in the Belgian Congo for a couple of years. I knew he’d love the overview, so we bought it as a thanks-for-having us-stay-with-you gift. He loved it.

Our other purchase was one we dithered over. Poor John spotted it first—a not-so-slim volume of Kim Jong Il Looking at Things. It was a back and forth conversation.

I can’t really justify this, he said.

Oh for heaven’s sake, you’ll get a lot of mileage out of showing it to friends, I countered.

He thought for a nanosecond and bought it.

When we got back to Libby’s place, we showed it to her straightaway.

Her reaction, Oh thank goodness you bought it. I agonized over whether to buy it and finally decided not to.

I guess we know who gets it in the will. Maybe we should have bought multiple copies.

by Moke, I’m still a fan of Skol and Primus beer