July 11 › November 15, 2015 - Magnin-A

July 11 › November 15, 2015
the exhibition
01 - 04
IMAGES FOR THE PRESS
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90 YEARS OF MODERN AND
CONTEMPORARY ART IN the CONGO
by André Magnin
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INTERVIEWS WITH ARTISTS
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EXCERPTS FROM THE CATALOG
11 - 14
THE FONDATION CARTIER AND
AFRICAN CONTEMPORARY ART
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THE NOMADIC NIGHTS
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INTERNET
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YOUNG PEOPLE
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INFORMATION
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MEDIA PARTNERS
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NEXT EXHIBITIONS
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press
Matthieu Simonnet, assisted by Maïté Perrocheau
Tel. +33 (0)1 42 18 56 77 / 65 – [email protected]
Information: presse.fondation.cartier.com
the exhibition
01
A place of extraordinary cultural vitality, the Democratic Republic
of the Congo will be honored in the Beauté Congo – 1926-2015 – Congo Kitoko
exhibition presented at the Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain
with André Magnin, Chief Curator.
Modern painting in the Congo
in the 1920s
Taking as its point of departure the birth of
modern painting in the Congo in the 1920s,
this ambitious exhibition will trace almost
a century of the country’s artistic production.
While specifically focusing on painting,
it will also include music, sculpture,
photography, and comics, providing the
public with the unique opportunity to
discover the diverse and vibrant art scene
of the region.
Precursors
As early as the mid-1920s, when the Congo
was still a Belgian colony, precursors such
as Albert and Antoinette Lubaki and
Djilatendo painted the first known
Congolese works on paper, anticipating the
development of modern and contemporary
art. Figurative or geometric in style, their
works represent village life, the natural
world, dreams and legends with great poetry
and imagination.
Following World War II, the French
painter Pierre Romain-Desfossés moved to
the Congo and founded an art workshop
called the “atelier du Hangar”. In this
workshop, active until the death of RomainDesfossés in 1954, painters such as Bela,
Mwenze Kibwanga and Pilipili Mulongoy
learned to freely exercize their imaginations,
creating colorful and enchanting works
in their own highly inventive and distinctive
styles.
Popular painters
Twenty years later, the exhibition Art Partout,
presented in Kinshasa in 1978, revealed
to the public the painters Chéri Samba,
Chéri Chérin, and Moke and other artists,
many of whom are still active today.
Fascinated by their urban environment
and collective memory, they would call
themselves “popular painters.” They
developed a new approach to figurative
painting, inspired by daily, political or social
events that were easily recognizable by their
fellow citizens. Papa Mfumu’eto Ier, known
for his independent prolific comic book
production and distribution throughout
Kinshasa in the 1990s, also explored daily
life and common struggles throughout
his work. Today younger artists like JP Mika
and Monsengo Shula, tuned-in to current
events on a global scale, carry on the
approach of their elders.
In the 1980s
Beginning in the 1980s and continuing
through to the present, innovative sculptors
like Bodys Isek Kingelez and Rigobert Nimi
have created intricate architectural models
of utopian cities or robotized factories to
explore the question of social cohesion. For
them, art provokes self-renewal that in turn
contributes towards a better collective future.
In the 2000s
Reflecting a new generation of artists,
the members of the collective Eza Possibles,
created in 2003, have refused the narrow
confines of the Académie des Beaux-Arts
of Kinshasa. Two of its founding painters,
Pathy Tshindele and Kura Shomali reaffirm
the vitality of the contemporary scene with
their unconventional collages and paintings,
and critical approach to art.
The photography
Depicting the energy in the city of Kinshasa
following the independence of the Congo,
the work of photographers such as Jean
Depara and Ambroise Ngaimoko, from
the Studio 3Z, will also be presented in the
exhibition. The designated photographer of
the musician Franco, Jean Depara portrayed
the lively and extravagant night life of
Kinshasa in the 1950s and 1960s.
Recording the world of SAPE (Society of
Partiers and Elegant Persons) and bodybuilders, Ambroise Ngaimoko photographed
the attitudes and ardor of the youth of
Kinshasa in the 1970s.
The music: Jazz, soul, rap,
and popular dance music
Music, omnipresent in city life in the Congo,
has actively contributed to this vibrancy.
The Congolese music industry blossomed
during the golden age of rumba beginning
in the 1950s. While it has since been highly
influential in Sub-Saharan Africa, this
urban music is largely unknown outside
the continent. This important facet of
the country’s creative spirit, including jazz,
soul, rap, and popular dance music, will
be heard at key moments in the exhibition,
in conversation with specific artworks.
Visitors will be invited to listen to songs by
the great Franco and his group OK Jazz, the
soulful Mbilia Bel, the sapeur Papa Wemba,
and the eclectic Trio Madjesi, amongst
others, carefully selected by Vincent Kenis
of Crammed Discs in collaboration with
Césarine Sinatu Bolya.
JP Mika, Kiese na Kiese, 2014
Fondation Cartier’s commitment
to contemporary art
Upholding the Fondation Cartier’s
commitment to African contemporary art,
Beauté Congo – 1926-2015 – Congo Kitoko
follows a series of other projects held at
the Fondation Cartier featuring Congolese
artists including the solo shows Bodys Isek
Kingelez (1999) and J’aime Chéri Samba
(2004) and the thematic exhibitions Un art
populaire (2001) and Histoires de voir, Show
and Tell (2012).
02
YOUNG AND EMERGING ARTISTS
At the beginning of the new millennium
the Académie des Beaux Arts in Kinshasa
became a place for artistic experimentation,
leading to the rise of a new generation of
young artists in the Congo. In 2003, Kura
Shomali, Pathy Tshindele and Mega
Mingiedi Tunga created the artists’ collective
Eza Possibles (“It’s possible” in Lingala),
whose projects engage directly with the
urban environment and with the citizens
of Kinshasa. The distinctive works of these
three artists can be seen here.
Kura Shomali finds his inspiration
in gossip from the streets, pictures taken
from magazines and works of major African
photographers. Incorporating splashes
of paint and ink, his dynamic compositions
reflect both the chaos and vitality of the
city of Kinshasa.
In his first works, Pathy Tshindele depicts
loosely drawn figures inspired by the people
he sees on the street, adopting a spontaneity
reminiscent of graffiti art. The artist assumes
a different style in the delicately painted
works of the series It’s My Kings, probing the
roles of the world’s superpowers in African
politics by dressing their leaders in the same
costumes as the Kings who reigned over the
kingdom of Kuba.
The works of Mega Mingiedi Tunga often
take the form of topographical drawings.
Les Voyageurs de l’eau is an imaginary depiction
of the city of Lubumbashi, denouncing
the exploitation of natural resources in the
Province of Katanga by multinational
corporations.
Other artists presented here share with
Shomali, Tsindele and Mingiedi Tunga an
interest in the urban environment, politics,
history and collective memory.
In the series entitled Un regard, Kiripi
Katembo provides a fascinating portrayal
of Kinshasa though its numerous puddles,
Chéri Samba, Oui, il faut réfléchir, 2014
revealing the city’s state of disrepair while
at the same time exploring the formal and
expressive possibilities of reflections.
Steve Bandoma considers his work as
a form of recycling, giving (found) materials
new life by incorporating them into his
paintings. His Cassius Clay series examines
the impact of the historic Ali-Foreman boxing
match, which took place in Kinshasa in
1974, on the memory and cultural identity
of the Congolese people.
Lastly, Sammy Baloji uses photomontage
to relate colonial history to the recent history
of the Congo. In the series Congo Far West,
he associates documentary photographs of a
Belgian scientific expedition to the province
of Katanga (1898-1900) with watercolors
of the painter Pierre Dardenne (1865-1900),
thus revealing the explorers’ disdain for
the indigenous peoples of the Congo and
suggesting its bearing on the problems of
today’s world.
candid paintings often incorporate humorous
or satirical texts reinforcing their critical
message.
Monsengo Shula and Cheik Ledy belong
to the second generation of popular painters.
In 1975 Monsengo Shula moved to Kinshasa
and learned to paint in the studio of his
cousin Moke. He distinguished himself
from his elders with his innovative use of
color combinations. Cheik Ledy was an
apprentice in the studio of his older brother
Chéri Samba adopting his precise drawing
style in works that associate text and image.
Born in 1980, JP Mika is the youngest
of the group of painters presented here.
He studied at the Académie des Beaux-Arts
in Kinshasa and perfected his painting
skills in the studio of Chéri Chérin. The
compositions of his recent works, which
are painted directly onto printed fabrics,
draw their inspiration from African studio
photographic portraiture of the 1960s.
THE POPULAR PAINTERS
In the 1970s, a group of young artists
emerged in Kinshasa, defining themselves
as “popular painters”. Most of them had
worked as sign painters, and some had
made comics before opening their studios
in Kinshasa, exhibiting their paintings on
walls of their buildings to attract passersby.
The first generation of popular painters,
which includes Moke, Pierre Bodo, Chéri
Chérin and Chéri Samba, was revealed
to the public in the exhibition Art Partout,
presented at the Académie des Beaux-Arts
de Kinshasa in 1978. Here they encountered
great success, stealing the spotlight from
the artists of the Académie. Instead of
imitating the European painting styles,
as do the artists of the academy, the popular
painters draw their inspiration from daily
life in Kinshasa and explore politics, society
and world events. Their brightly colored,
PORTRAITS OF KINSHASA
Following the Second World War, the
Belgian government introduced a series of
administrative, cultural and social reforms
that led to the modernization of Leopoldville
(today’s Kinshasa), by then a flourishing
cosmopolitan city. Photography became
a way of reaffirming one’s social status and
the photographic studios, run for the most
part by Europeans or Angolans, began
to thrive.
A native Angolan, Jean Depara moved
to Leopoldville in 1951, discovering its lively
nightlife by visiting the most fashionable
bars and nightclubs, resounding with the
rhythms of the rumba and the cha-cha.
In 1956, he opened his own studio, Jean
Whisky Depara, before deciding to devote
his career to street photography a year
later. An observer of the exuberance of
contemporary Leopoldville, he also became
the official photographer of the famous
Congolese singer Franco and the portraitist
of the Bills, gangs of Kinshasa who styled
themselves on actors from American
Westerns.
Also from Angola, the photographer
Ambroise Ngaimoko opened his own studio
in Kinshasa in 1971, which he named Studio
3Z, and became the portraitist of young
athletes and sapeurs (adherents of the
Society of Ambiance-Makers and Elegant
People, a movement embodying elegance
of style and manner), providing the décor
and accessories himself.
>
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Ambroise Ngaimoko, Euphorie de deux jeunes gens
qui se retrouvent, 1972
As a reporter for the weekly magazine Zaire,
as well as for the newspapers Le Progrès and
L’Etoile du Congo, Oscar Memba Freitas
made his name as a photographer of sports
events and in particular of the famous boxing
match between Muhammad Ali and George
Foreman which took place in Kinshasa in
1974. Hanging alongside the picture of Ali
and Foreman by Oscar Freitas are several
anonymous photographs of the Festival 74,
the promotional musical event organized
in conjunction with this historical match.
THE SCHOOL OF ELISABETHVILLE
In 1946, the French painter Pierre RomainDesfossés founded in Elisabethville the
Academy of Indigenous Art, better known
as the “Atelier du Hangar.” Instead of asking
Congolese artists to imitate European
styles of painting, Pierre Romain-Defossés
encouraged them to freely exercise their
imaginations and draw inspiration from their
own traditions and the world around them.
The three artists presented in the next
room emerged as the most distinguished
representatives of the Atelier du Hangar
– Bela, Pilipili Mulogoy, and Mwenze
Kibwanga – each of whom developed
a distinctive technique. Bela applies paint
with his fingers in a delicate and meticulous
manner, Pilipili fills his pictorial space
with a multitude of small circles, and Mwenze
Kibwanga covers the surface of his paintings
with cross-hatching in ochre, beige and brown.
Following the visit of Prince Charles, the
Regent of Belgium, to Elisabethville in 1947,
the artists from the Hangar were presented
in exhibitions in Brussels, Paris, Rome,
London and New York.
After the death of Pierre RomainDesfossées in 1954, the “Atelier du Hangar”
was integrated into the Académie des Beaux
Arts of Elisabethville, founded three years
earlier by the Belgian painter Laurent
Moonens. Pilipili Mulongoy, Mwenze
Kibwanga and Sylvester Kaballa became
professors at the school. One of the first
interracial schools of the Congo and open
to all ages, the academy offered classes
Antoinette Lubaki, Sans titre, c. 1929
in drawing, architecture, ceramics and
sculpture. Several talented artists were
trained there including Mode Muntu and
Jean-Bosco Kamba, who was one of the first
painters to graduate from the Academy
in 1958. Some were immediately successful,
taking part in exhibitions such as Jeunes
peintres congolais (Young Congolese painters)
at the Kursaal in Ostend in 1956 or the
Brussels World’s Fair of 1958.
THE PRECURSORS OF MODERN PAINTING
In 1926, the Belgian administrator Georges
Thiry discovered in the village of Bukama,
in Katanga a group of painted huts.
Enchanted by these paintings, he met their
author, the ivory carver Albert Lubaki and
his wife Antoinette. In an effort to preserve
this ephemeral art form which he so admired,
Georges Thiry decided to provide them with
paper and watercolors so that they may
reproduce their paintings using materials
that would better resist time. In the province
of Western Kasai, where he was subsequently
assigned, Georges Thiry met another hut
painter, the tailor Djilatendo, and also
provided him with painting materials, thus
repeating the experience he began with
Lubaki.
With the support of Gaston-Denys
Périer, a senior Belgian government official
and art lover stationed in Brussels, Georges
Thiry endeavored to promote this painting
which they found remarkably modern
in style. They succeeded in organizing
exhibitions of Albert Lubaki’s watercolors
at the Palais des Beaux-Arts de Bruxelles
in 1929, the Musée Ethnographique in
Geneva in 1930 and the Charles-Auguste
Girard Gallery in Paris in 1931, documented
in the display cases presented here. The same
year, an exhibition of Djilatendo’s works
was organized at the Galerie du Centaure
in Brussels, where they were presented with
those of the famous Belgian painters René
Magritte and Paul Delvaux. The works of
these two artists were also included in other
shows such as the Exposition Coloniale de
Vincennes and the Prima mostra internazionale
d’arte colonial in Rome, which both took place
in 1931.
Following a series of disagreements
between Gaston-Denys Perier and Georges
Thiry, Lubaki and Djilatendo were no longer
provided with painting supplies. After a final
exhibition of Lubaki’s work at the Musée
Ethnographique in Geneva in 1941, we lose
their trace.
Chief curator
André Magnin
Associate curators
Leanne Sacramone (visual arts) and Ilana
Shamoon (music and films) assisted
by Adriana Patrascu and Marie Perennes
Music
Vincent Kenis and Césarine Sinatu Bolya
Exhibition design
Giovanna Comana and Iva Berthon Gajsak,
agence bGc studio
MUSIC AND FILMS
04
Designing a musical program for the
exhibition Beauté Congo – 1926-2015 – Congo
Kitoko has been a first for us. For over thirty
years our interest in Congolese music has
driven various projects including producing
and distributing records, collaborating with
and promoting amazing talents, exploring
fields such as fashion that are inextricably
linked to music, and other activities
involving highly influential organizations
in cultural and political circles.
To illustrate the synergy of spirit and
energy between the worlds of music and art,
we were inspired by the work selected
for the exhibition by André Magnin. While
some of the connections between songs
and works of art were conceived of in
a free and subjective manner, many of them
came to us in a more evident way through
similarities in titles and themes—SAPE,
“Zaïrianization” and authenticity, the issue
of exile and family life.
La SAPE by JP Mika illustrates a legend
popularized by Papa Wemba, a major
figure in mainstream Congolese music;
Ata Ndele Mokili Ekobaluka (Tôt ou tard
le monde changera), the title of a painting
by Monsengo Shula, refers to the lyrics in
the refrain of an emblematic independence
song; the couple in Moke’s Skol Primus
evokes advertising jingles that compare
the competition between the two brands
of beer to a romantic rivalry.
The photographs of Jean Depara, presented
in the rooms on the lower floor, chronicle
life in Kinshasa, suggesting even more
unmistakable connections. One of the
photographs is apparently that of a moped
referred to in a song that created quite
a stir, another could well be the tangible
proof of a forgotten Beatlemania, and
a third documents the subversive frivolity
of women’s organizations whose interaction
with the music world were instrumental
in awakening a sense of national pride
and awareness.
Even when popular painting and music
turn away from one another, they almost
always have in common a sense of irony,
derision, and a desire to ‘‘recycle’’ the
dustbin of history, or more prosaically the
trash that has invaded the capital. In that
respect, the works of Bodys Isek Kingelez
and Rigobert Nimi, although absent from
the musical program, are very close to
the music of Konono N°1 and Staff Benda
Bilili. While cardboard, felt-tip pens and
scissors sufficed for the former to invent
their futuristic cathedrals, it was not until
computers became widespread that the latter
abandoned linearity to create their own
genuine sound constructions.
Vincent Kenis and Césarine Sinatu Bolya
Program of films
Fredi Casco and Renate Costa
Interview with Chéri Samba
Kinshasa, 2014
4 min 14
Fredi Casco and Renate Costa
Interview with Bodys Isek Kingelez
Kinshasa, 2014
4 min 16
Vincent Kenis and Benoît van Maële
Interview with Rigobert Nimi
Kinshasa, 2015
7 min 04
Mweze Dieudonné Ngangura
Kin Kiesse, 1982
Courtesy of Collection Cinémathèque
Afrique / Institut français
28 min
Moke, Skol Primus, 1991
Jean Depara, Untitled, c. 1955–65
IMAGES FOR THE PRESS
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1 Chéri Samba, La Vraie Carte du monde,
2011. Acrylic on canvas and glitters,
200 × 300 cm. Collection Fondation Cartier
pour l’art contemporain, Paris
© Chéri Samba
2 Mode Muntu, Le Calendrier lunaire Luba,
1979. Gouache on paper, 55 × 43 cm
Collection Meir Levy, Brussels
© Mode Muntu / Photo © Michael De Plaen
3 Mode Muntu, Kusaidia (L’Entraide), 1980
Gouache on paper, 94 × 60 cm
Collection Michael De Plaen, Brussels
© Mode Muntu / Photo © Michael De Plaen
4 Chéri Samba, Oui, il faut réfléchir, 2014
Acrylic on canvas and glitters, 135 × 200 cm
Collection of the artist, Paris
© Chéri Samba / Photo © André Morin
5 Chéri Samba, Amour & Pastèque, 1984
Oil on canvas, 79 × 89 cm. Private collection
© Chéri Samba / Photo © Florian Kleinefenn
6 Monsengo Shula, Ata Ndele
Mokili Ekobaluka (Tôt ou tard le monde
changera), 2014.
Acrylic on canvas and glitters, 130 × 200 cm
Private collection © Monsengo Shula
Photo © Florian Kleinefenn
7 Albert Lubaki, Untitled, c. 1929
Watercolor on paper, 52 × 65 cm
Private collection and courtesy Galerie
Loevenbruck, Paris © Albert Lubaki
Photo © Fabrice Gousset, courtesy Cornette
de Saint Cyr, Paris
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8 Antoinette Lubaki, Untitled, c. 1929
Watercolor on paper, 55 × 73 cm
Collection Pierre Loos, Brussels
© Antoinette Lubaki
Photo © Michael De Plaen
10 Sylvestre Kaballa, Untitled, c. 1950
Oil on paper, 38.5 × 52.5 cm.
Collection Pierre Loos, Brussels
© Sylvestre Kaballa
Photo © Michael De Plaen
9 Pilipili Mulongoy, Untitled, c. 1950
Oil on paper, 34.5 × 50.5 cm
Collection Pierre Loos, Brussels
© Pilipili Mulongoy / Photo © André Morin
11 Norbert Ilunga, Untitled, c. 1950
Oil on paper, 35 × 43.5 cm
Collection Pierre Loos, Brussels
© Norbert Ilunga / Photo © André Morin
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IMAGES AVAILABLE AT
PRESSE.FONDATION.CARTIER.COM
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12 Jean-Bosco Kamba, Untitled, 1958
Oil on Unalit panel, 46 × 76 cm
Collection Pierre Loos, Brussels
© Jean-Bosco Kamba
Photo © Michael De Plaen
13 Pilipili Mulongoy, Untitled, 1955
Gouache and oil on paper, 46 × 53 cm
Musée royal de l’Afrique centrale,
Tervuren, H.O.1.744 © Pilipili Mulongoy
Photo © MRAC Tervuren
14 Kiripi Katembo, Tenir,
Un regard series, 2011
Lambda print, 60 × 90 cm
Collection of the artist, Paris
© Kiripi Katembo
15 Kiripi Katembo, Subir,
Un regard series, 2011
Lambda print, 60 × 90 cm
Collection of the artist, Paris
© Kiripi Katembo
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16 Jean Depara, Untitled (Moziki), c. 1955–65
Gelatin silver print, 55.5 × 38 cm
CAAC – The Pigozzi Collection, Geneva
© Jean Depara / Photo © André Morin
20Moke, Kin Oyé, 1983
Oil on canvas, 67 × 87 cm
Private collection, Paris
© Moke / Photo © André Morin
17Moke, Untitled
(Match Ali-Foreman, Kinshasa), 1974
Oil on canvas, 88 × 166 cm
Private collection
© Moke / Photo © André Morin
21 Steve Bandoma, Je suis jeune,
Cassius Clay series, 2014,
Mixt media on paper, 140 × 100 cm
Collection of the artist © Steve Bandoma
Photo © Florian Kleinefenn
18 Ambroise Ngaimoko, Euphorie de deux
jeunes gens qui se retrouvent, 1972
Gelatin silver print, 27 × 27 cm
Collection of the artist, Paris
© Ambroise Ngaimoko / Photo © André Morin
22Mwenze Kibwanga, Untitled, 1954
Oil on Unalit panel, 39.5 × 48.5 cm
Collection Pierre Loos, Brussels
© Mwenze Kibwanga
Photo © Michael De Plaen
19 Jean Depara, Untitled, c. 1955–65
Gelatin silver print, 77 × 113 cm
Collection Revue Noire, Paris
© Jean Depara / Photo courtesy Revue Noire
23Lukanga, Untitled, c. 1950
Oil on paper, 30 × 41.5 cm
Collection Pierre Loos, Brussels
© Lukanga / Photo © André Morin
24JP Mika, La SAPE, 2014
Acrylic and oil on printed canvas and
glitters, 160 × 140 cm. Private collection
© JP Mika / Photo © André Morin
25JP Mika, Kiese na Kiese, 2014
Acrylic and oil on printed canvas,
168.5 × 119 cm
Pas-Chaudoir collection, Belgium © JP Mika
Photo © Antoine de Roux
26JP Mika, La Nostalgie, 2014
Acrylic and oil on printed canvas
and glitters, 169 × 126 cm
Collection Ann Korijn, The Hague
© JP Mika / Photo © Florian Kleinefenn
90 YEARS OF MODERN AND CONTEMPORARY ART
IN the CONGO by André Magnin Excerpt FROM the catalog
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french version only
Chéri Samba, La Vraie Carte du monde, 2011
Chance and need brought this exhibition
to fruition. Chance encounters between
Congolese and Europeans separated by
their roots and culture, and a need to follow
the thread of a ninety-year-long story
to present what they have produced—a sum
of masterful work attesting to the artistic
fervor of the Congo, much of it undiscovered
until now. Having played a role in this story,
it is my duty to recount how these meetings
came about and the adventure that led me
to a deep exploration of Congolese art. […]
From that popular scene I naturally met
Pierre Bodo, Chéri Chérin, Ange Kumbi,
Chéri Benga, Monsengo Shula, Sim Simaro,
Maître Syms and Cheik Ledy, each of them
drawing in his own way on collective
memory and local history. Their paintings
attest to this, featuring bar scenes, parties
at night, musicians playing the rumba,
sapeurs, 1 and quarrels between neighbors.
Raconteurs of the urban scene, these artists
were known and appreciated by the
Kinshasa intelligentsia.
Upon arriving in Kinshasa in 1987
I discovered the “maquettique architect”
Bodys Isek Kingelez and the painter Chéri
Samba, whom Jean-François Bizot had just
written about in the magazine Actuel. There
was a thriving artistic scene there that Chéri
Samba had described as “popular,” choosing
this word because the paintings of the local
artists were meant for everyone.
These artists, who had begun as billboard
painters, decorators and illustrators, had
set up their studio on the busy streets
of Kinshasa so that their canvases would
be seen by everyone. They had acquired
some recognition following the exhibition
Art partout held in Kinshasa in 1978, where
they stole the show from the Académie
des Beaux-Arts artists. […]
I was struck by the
freedom, variety, humor
and beauty of the paintings
that were passing before
my eyes.
I was struck by the freedom, variety, humor
and beauty of the paintings that were passing
before my eyes. In Africa, only the Congo
could inspire such exciting sensuality and
radicalism. I was at the heart of an art form
that required no theorizing or explanation,
revealing a whole new cultural lifestyle
by evoking political and social moments,
whether tiny or overwhelming. Kinshasa, the
ardent and rebellious capital of a disjointed
and violent country, provided a home for
popular artists displaying in their seriously
amusing way the stamina of their society. […]
I have never parted with the Kinshasa
artists. I saw some of their most brilliant
successors growing up, such as young
JP Mika. Naming Chéri Samba and Chéri
Chérin as his masters, Mika is known for
his print fabric backgrounds. His subjects,
inspiration and colors combine to exude
amazing brightness, power and beauty.
I have collected, published, and exhibited
his works in institutions devoted
to contemporary art, from the Centre
Pompidou, the Guggenheim in Bilbao and
the Fondation Cartier pour l’art
contemporain to the Grimaldi Forum in
Monaco, Documenta in Kassel, the Venice
Biennale, the Agnelli Foundation, museums
in Houston, Washington, Japan, South
Korea, Australia and Brazil. This
uninterrupted, obsessive quest has led me,
speechless, on the lost trail of Congolese
modern art dating from the late 1920s, which
had remained in the shadows until now,
including the period’s most dazzling pieces
on display here.
[…]
08
Amazed by the modernity of these works,
I could not stop searching for them and
learning about their history. They had been
created at the instigation of a certain
Georges Thiry, a Belgian colonial civil
servant. A connoisseur of Western modern
art and its sources in African “primitives,”
Thiry appreciated the artistic quality of the
paintings adorning the outside walls of
Congolese huts and was worried about their
durability. He identified two of their creators:
Albert Lubaki in 1926, then Djilatendo
in about 1927. […]
I have strived to invite
people on a journey, to
prompt an experience of
being faced with something
they do not know, to fill
them with wonder.
The next meeting of European and
Congolese perspectives occurred just after
the war. Pierre Romain-Desfossés, a French
naval officer and amateur painter, moved
to Élisabethville (now Lubumbashi), which
was booming at the time. Convinced that
there was a fundamentally different aesthetic
in Africa, in 1946 he founded a workshop
of indigenous art, the “Hangar,” selecting
his disciples, as he called them, for their
talent. He provided them with materials for
painting, gave them free rein, and urged
them to let their creative genius flow.
Desfossés’s intention went counter to the
reigning conformism in Europe, which
refused to recognize such vibrant art after
the age-old masterpieces of African statuary
praised by the greatest modern artists. […]
Since a Congolese aesthetic had now
twice come from foreign patronage, it was
natural that a homegrown establishment
would in turn inspire new developments.
The emergence of the Académie des BeauxArts in Kinshasa was just such an occasion.
Created in 1943, it did not get off the ground
and gain its independence until 1965.
Named by Mobutu and under the direction
of Bembika Nkunku, then later the sculptor
Alfred Liyolo, it trained official artists who
carried out public commissions. Starting
in 1996, Daniel Shongo Lohonga Dangi
made the establishment a place for sharing
and exchanging with other schools,
in particular the École Supérieure des Arts
Décoratifs in Strasbourg and the École
Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Nantes,
creating openness toward alternative forms
of artistic expression such as performance
and installation. Like any academic
institution, the Kinshasa academy fueled
fruitful critical reflection. A generation
of socially conscious artists used it as
a laboratory for experimentation. Groups
were formed, such as the collective Yebela
Kiripi Katembo, Subir, série Un regard, 2011
with Kiripi Katembo, Librisme Synergie
with Steve Bandoma, and the collective Eza
Possibles (“It’s possible” in Lingala). […]
Since 1994, in collaboration with Hervé
Chandès and his remarkable, energetic, and
passionate staff, I have had the good fortune
to put together several exhibitions at the
Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain,
in particular those devoted to the most
famous Congolese artists such as Chéri
Samba, 2 Bodys Isek Kingelez, 3 and Moke. 4
It is only natural therefore that the Fondation
Cartier should now present ninety years of
modern and contemporary art from the
Congo—a world première. A quote from the
great Ivorian artist Frédéric Bruly Bouabré
best sums up the exhibition: sharing “African
traditions and reality, which have remained
radiantly beautiful and deserve to be
interpreted and proudly presented with the
aim of informing and educating people.” 5
I had three aspirations with Beauté Congo
– 1926-2015 – Congo Kitoko. The first,
following the example of Gaston-Denys
Périer in 1929, was to share with a Western
public the passion that impelled me to search
all over Congo-Zaire for thirty years.
My second aspiration was to tell the story
of ninety years of Congolese art which had
always been described partially, and was
visually familiar, but only fragmentarily so
until now. While there is no stylistic filiation
between the times of Lubaki, the Hangar,
the popular artists and of those today,
there does exist between them the same
sense of belonging to a vibrant Congo
shaken by forces ranging from the peaceful
to the volcanic. This exhibition is a tribute
to all those who have recognized the power
of Congolese modern art and helped it
to develop up to this point. […]
In displaying this large number of works,
I have strived to invite people on a journey,
to prompt an experience of being faced with
something they do not know, to fill them
with wonder and create a bond that fuses
after the initial surprise of these works has
passed, or through the shock of that surprise.
Paris, April 2015
1 F
rom French acronym SAPE, Société des ambianceurs et des
personnes élégantes (Society of Partiers and Elegant Persons).
2 J’aime Chéri Samba, Fondation Cartier pour l’art
contemporain, Paris, 2004.
3 Bodys Isek Kingelez (1995), Un monde réel (1999),
Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain, Paris.
4 Un art populaire, Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain,
Paris, 2001.
5 Handwritten letter from Frédéric Bruly Bouabré addressed
to André Magnin, dated November 1, 1988, titled “Sujet : l’art dit Srêlê en Bété.”
INTERVIEW WITH
CHÉRI SAMBA
09
André Magnin Most of the paintings from that
period were makeshift. Were art supplies
so hard to find in Kinshasa?
Chéri Samba Well, you could find art supplies
in Kinshasa, which were imported, but you
couldn’t afford them given the price we
asked for our paintings. Until 1978 I painted
on flour sacks with industrial paint;
and my paintings couldn’t be any bigger
than 80 × 60 cm. When I saw the cracks
in the paintings, I decided it was better
to use canvas bought on the market, which
I prepared myself, and oil paint for artists.
It was only in 1988 that I used acrylic paint
for the first time on professional canvas.
When I could afford better supplies,
I preferred to work in large sizes up to two
meters. But even at that size paintings look
like postage stamps in museums. I know
there are tiny little paintings that are
masterpieces, but large paintings—up to four
meters!—work better for my style and the
subjects I like to paint. Paintings you can see
from far away. I really like working in that
format. The paintings are more impressive.
When I start a painting, I define the subject,
the idea, the message and even the title.
I have a clear image in my head; I see the
colors as well… I do a precise, detailed pencil
drawing of the subject directly on the canvas
without any prior sketching. I allow myself
up to three versions of the same painting,
though slightly different. That way, I
increase the possibility for my work to be
seen everywhere by everyone. I use lots of
bright, flashy colors to make my paintings
vivid. That’s also why I added glitter in the
late l980s; I felt it made them even stronger.
The same goes for my clothes, which are
more and more colorful and glittery. […]
A. M. Your strategy of self-glorification has
worked well so far! But that doesn’t explain
how painter Samba became nationallyrenowned Chéri Samba?
C. S. You’d have to have known Kinshasa
at the time. The streets were lit up all night
long, there were musicians in all the bars,
and everyone was sitting on crates of Skol
and Primus. 1 It was a time of real musical
and artistic excitement. It was during this
euphoric time that BadiBanga ne Mwine and
Jean-Pierre Jacquemin organized the Art
partout exhibition at the Fine Arts Academy. 2
The exhibition presented modern Congolese
artists including people from the Academy
and self-taught artists like Pierre Bodo, Chéri
Chérin, Chéri Samba, the Mbuecky twins,
Moke, Sim Simaro, Maître Syms, and
Vuza-Ntoko. I have named most of them,
but I cannot remember everyone now.
There was a crowd in our room. People
said it was the first exhibition that was way
too crowded–a big popular hit. Then the
various cultural centers in Kinshasa, as well
as connoisseurs and foreigners in volunteer
overseas service, started following our work.
Chéri Samba, Amour & Pastèque, 1984
A. M. In Africa, art either corns out of the
academies and is paid little attention
abroad, or else it is made by “self-taught”
artists and is qualified as “naïve” and
“popular.” What do the terms “naïve”
and “popular” mean to you?
C. S. I’m one of the defenders of this
“popular” painting. I already told you, if
I am not mistaken, that I was the one who
“invented” this expression in 1975 and the
first to use it. So I am in a good position to
laugh about it and to answer for it. Now I am
getting a bit fed up with the term “popular”
because I can see that you as Westerners
don’t have the same understanding of words
and things. When I set up my own studio,
I heard people saying I was making naïve
paintings. I looked up in the dictionary
and saw that this word didn’t fit me. I wasn’t
very interested in the word “naïve” and I
preferred the word “popular,” which worked
and was taken up by everyone. It means
that people understood our paintings
directly and could identify with them.
Our message spoke to them. That’s what
we were aiming for.
I’m the one who came up with the name
« popular painting », because it comes
from the people, is about the people, and
is intended for the people. It is immediately
understood by everyone, and people can
identify with it, contrary to academic
painting which people don’t understand.
I’m not challenging the kind of painting
that needs to be explained to be understood,
but it isn’t my way. My paintings, like
My paintings, like those
of my colleagues, address
issues such as education,
morals, politics and
everyday life. I favour
a direct style to convey
messages that speak
to everyone.
those of my colleagues, address issues such
as education, morals, politics and everyday
life. I favour a direct style to convey messages
that speak to everyone, both initiated and
the uninitiated. And the term “popular”
seemed the most appropriate one to me. […]
Interviews realized in Paris and Kinshasa, in 2002
and 2003 (first published in the catalog of the
exhibition J’aime Chéri Samba, Fondation Cartier
pour l’art contemporain, Paris, 2004).
1 Local brands of biers.
2
Art partout, Fine Arts Academy, Kinshasa, 1978.
Interview with
Bodys Isek Kingelez
10
André Magnin Bodys Isek Kingelez, were
you predisposed to become an artist?
Bodys Isek Kingelez In 1978, I took the
definitive decision to quit teaching for good
without quite knowing that I’d become an
artist. This decision was born of my personal
will to contribute to the future of Africa.
A de-colonized Africa. I focussed all my
energy and effort so that Africa would
be heard from now on, so that I could make
my contribution to Africa’s future.
Deep down I knew I had to find the best
way to reach my goals. I drew up a list
of ideas in my little room. Then a muddled
confusion set in me and lasted for more than
a month. It was at this time that I became
obsessed with the idea of getting my hands
on some scissors, a Gilette razor, and some
glue and paper. It felt like fate when I finally
did procure this particular material, and
things became clearer then. I put together
a little house without quite understanding
the meaning of it all. And this was what
stopped the fatal hemorrhaging. By chance,
the caretaker of the American Cultural
Center saw what I had made and that’s when
things exploded. They exhausted me with
questions I couldn’t answer. Now we’re
getting to the thick of the story.
“Work, work, work,” these words
resonated like an echo in my head. This
was when I did my first sculpture. I holed
up in my room. After working non-stop
for a month, I finally stepped out into
the light, exhausted by my labors. It was
extraordinary, as if I had returned from
some far distant land. […]
From 1978 to 1984 I worked exclusively as
a restorer and was “banned” from practicing
sculpture. I preferred to leave the museum
and so spent a year unemployed. During this
time I made hundreds of paper stars and
a wide variety of shapes that decorated
my house from floor to ceiling. I was trying
to discover my own particular style.
A Frenchman came to photograph me at
my house because he thought this decoration
was simply spectacular. This is when
I realized that art was inside me. I didn’t
know how exactly I was going to develop my
work as a sculptor. I had great capabilities
and could do anything: boats, planes, cars,
whatever. But I finally decided to devote
myself to the realm of real estate.
The vision gives me all
I need, even the shape
and the colors.
A. M. How has the city of Kinshasa been
influencing your work? What kind of relations
do you make between your architectural
knowledge and your inspiration?
B. I. K. It was while living in Kinshasa
that I had this inspiration and that I took
this direction for good. I had the will and
the freedom to do it. I wanted my art
to serve the community and the population.
To create a model and modern home,
keeping in mind a different way of living.
I had never seen any other city. For me,
Kinshasa was The City; I had never seen
any other, not even in photos. I had never
traveled before. I neither read nor looked
at magazines. I therefore couldn’t compare
or see whether Kin was big or small,
beautiful or unattractive, chaotic or calm,
etc. I couldn’t make these comparisons.
In any case, I don’t like comparing.
To this day, I’ve created 3,014 works, both
small and large. I’ve also created entire cities
from my imagination; this is an irrefutable
contribution to life and science. My œuvre
includes four cities. My third Projet pour
le Kinshasa du troisième millénaire (1997) is a
revolution. It’s a free, peaceful city. I like
peace and liberty. It’s a city where
delinquents, police and prisons do not exist.
Many people think that art doesn’t
contribute anything. As for me, I maintain
that my art contributes to science and a
better life. I don’t want to think about life’s
hardships and sufferings. The words and
commentaries that I write express the vision
that inhabited me even before I started
the piece. First comes the name (the title)
of the piece; secondly I wait for the vision
to come, then I make it real. I never make
preliminary drawings. The vision gives
me all I need, even the shape and the colors.
I write just like I invent my sculptures.
This is why I have to invest the words; they
correspond to my vision and to the pieces
that I create, independent of history, memory
and academic rules. I am a designer, an
architect, a sculptor, engineer, artist.
A. M. Today, you are one of the most known
Congolese artist. How did you do to be
known all over the world?
B. I. K. One day André Magnin came
to find me in Kinshasa: “are you Bodys?”,
it was as if the sky had opened up. Things
took off from here. My parents knew
I would one day be a globe-trotter; my
prediction had already warned them of this
inevitability. I was to show my sculptures
in a large exhibition in Paris: Magiciens
de la Terre. 1 It was my first show and the
first time I was leaving my country. It was
the beginning of a great adventure. I worked
especially for the exhibit and made a number
of pieces: the Mitterrannéenne française (1989),
the Mausolée Kingelez (1989), the Croix du
Ciel (1989)… It was here that I met artists
from around the world and many Africans
whom I meet up with when I go to Europe
for exhibits, and also André Magnin with
whom I’ve maintained fraternal ties. He’s
like a brother in a distant land.
I believe that since this time, African
art has given the best of itself. There’s a new
momentum towards contemporary art. Most
often art critics and western or even African
curators neither see nor understand Africa
from Africa’s perspective. They work with
their ears. They need to go to Kinshasa.
I draw my ideas from Africa.
Interviews realized in Paris and Kinshasa, in 2000
(first published in the catalog of the exhibition
Bodys Isek Kinkelez, La Médiatine, Bruxelles,
2003).
1
Exhibition presented at the Centre Pompidou and at the
Grande Halle de la Villette (Paris) in 1989.
Bodys Isek Kingelez, Ville fantôme, 1996
Kongo ya Sika: The Birth of a Nation
Excerpt FROM the catalog
by Elikia M’Bokolo
french version only
11
Monsengo Shula, Ata Ndele Mokili Ekobaluka (Tôt ou tard le monde changera), 2014
The other Congo, beyond the colonial
propaganda? Yes, of course it existed!
For a black teenager from Léopoldville,
there were no social networks, there was
nothing outside of school or the omnipresent
church—which was preferably Catholic
before the virtues of secular education were
discovered—and the few good institutions
it offered. Books? Nothing but anthologies
and a few specific, carefully chosen works—
preferably by Belgian writers who were,
for the most part, obscure or unknown.
What in the world was there to do? How did
one spend one’s Saturdays and Sundays?
At church? So be it. Practicing our
traditional songs and dances? What for,
since we were told they were nothing more
than expressions of brute savagery!
Oh, the boredom, the ennui... The ennui,
which Georges Balandier, in his Sociologie
des Brazzaville noires, 1 believed to be
the exclusive domain of the whites, while
the black neighborhoods reverberated with
the sound of their tom-toms. No, the blacks
too have their ennui. The laborers who are
worn to the bone. The mothers struggling
under the weight of their numerous broods.
The “free women” with no daytime
customers. Children, as well. The only other
thing was soccer matches or, indeed,
movie theaters. So one Sunday, in January
1959, when I had just turned fourteen...
“You’ll have to choose. You can’t go to
the stadium and the movies this Sunday.
You have to choose one or the other, either
the stadium or the movies,” said Mama Ana,
the maternal grandmother who was raising
me. I chose the cinema, which was a twenty
to thirty-minute walk from the house. It was
showing a curious science-fiction film that
was very different from the endless westerns,
war movies and vulgar comedies that were
usually provided by the official distribution
networks. The movie theater was adjacent
to a bar known for its ndumba (or “free” girls,
as they were called). Both places belonged to
the same Congolese owner. The name of the
movie? The Day the Earth Stood Still. Yes, yes,
it’s true! I left the theater at about 8:00 pm.
From the municipality of Barumbu, I headed
back to the municipality of Saint-Jean via
the big avenue, Kalembelembe. When I got
to the intersection with Prince Baudouin
Avenue, another show awaited me. There
was an immense crowd, with people moving
in all directions, yelling, singing, shouting...
There were men and women, young people,
old people and children all mixed together.
Everything was ablaze. The Prince Baudouin
Stadium was ablaze! The Catholic bookstore
was ablaze! The girls’ school was ablaze! The
home of the nuns was ablaze—the home that
our elders were always talking about with
great hilarity, in incomprehensible terms...
Via a little crack in the tightly controlled
selection of films usually available to black
audiences, a supposedly inconsequential
movie had been able to slip through!
That Sunday was January 4, 1959. That
night the earth really had stopped turning
for the colonizers. We ourselves, we the
Congolese, knew of course that it would
come to a stop one day. For more than ten
years we had been listening to Adou Elenga
sing “Ata ndele, Ata ndele, Ata ndele
mokili ekobaluka...” (“Sooner or later,
Sooner or later, Sooner or later the world
will change entirely...”).
For that fourteen-year-old boy, in fact,
the world had just collapsed like a house of
cards: the colonial world, which had become
so drunk on its own propaganda that it had
grown deaf and blind to anything else.
All it took was one single night for “the world
to fall apart:” in the fabulous narrative
by Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart, 2 it is
the old African world that is crumbling! For
us, it was the colonial world that was falling
apart. It only took one night. Gone was the
sand castle of colonial propaganda. Another
world was opening up, filled with a wealth
of resources and possibilities. A world that
had to be built, yesterday, of course. But
above all, and more than ever, today. […]
From those dreams and convictions
to the realities of today, it is not such a very
long road. The Congo is not a country to be
built: it is a country that has never stopped
building itself. In the half-century that has
elapsed since that famous day of June 30,
1960, there are many signs and indicators
of that ongoing process of self-construction.
Kinshasa, April 2015
1
Georges Balandier, Sociologie des Brazzavilles noires
(Paris: Armand Colin, 1955).
2
Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart (Présence Africaine,
Paris, 1966).
Demystifying Tradition
by In Koli Jean Bofane
Excerpt FROM the catalog
french version only
12
The Congo, in the mid 1920s, was living
under colonial rule, while its people, without
too much undue unrest, toiled for the greater
glory of Belgium. The latter had recently
received this territory from the hands
of King Leopold II, a territory that was
more than eighty times the size of his own
kingdom ensconced up there on the North
Sea. Kasai-Occidental Province and
its capital, Luluabourg (now Kananga),
are located in the central part of the Congo.
Historically, the native peoples of the two
Kasai regions, the Kuba and Luba, had
built up powerful empires and every one
of their members still takes great pride in
this glorious past. The Baluba, in particular,
are known to hold fast to their traditions:
the rules of traditional marriage are to be
followed to the letter; the food that is eaten
must adhere exclusively to the recipe decreed
by the elders; the Tshiluba language must
never be forgotten, even amongst those who
have been living in the diaspora for decades.
In other words, the words of the ancestors
are sacred in the Kasai.
That did not prevent Djilatendo from
practicing a very contemporary art,
painting with watercolor on paper, while
remaining faithful to his sensory and
intellectual environment. This was, indeed,
the source of his inspiration. Born in
Luluabourg around 1895, Djilatendo takes
the patterns from Kasai carpets and, in
opposition to the opacity of raffia, portrays
them in transparent colors. His touch is more
suggestive than affirmative. His bestiary
contains leopards drawn with large, swift
strokes, ducklings in a single file that
portend the young prostitutes—also called
“ducklings”—moving along the narrow paths
between rough-hewn mines. [...]
Prior to independence, Congolese
painting was almost entirely dominated by
figurative art. With the arrival of Mobutu
Sese Seko and Mobutism in 1965, Zaire
began to dream of a glorious future in which
authenticity (African) would become the
supreme value. This is evident in the works
by Mode Muntu: his colorful, luminous
scenes are allegories of a world in which the
future promises to be brighter for everyone.
The Zairians still believed it was possible.
The colors are dazzling, the scenery and
characters extremely stylized. They are like
embryos in gestation, the future is all theirs.
[…]
Let’s not forget
that Kinshasa is a place
where one goes after
one’s dreams, and that
movies do not only
happen up on the screen.
Depara was there to
capture real life.
If there is a cultural hub in Kinshasa that
cannot be ignored, it is the collective Eza
Possibles. Founded in 2007, it includes artists
such as Eddy Ekete, Freddy Mutombo,
Freddy Tsimba, Kiki Zangunda, Pathy
Tshindele, Vitshois Mwilambwe Astro, Kura
Shomali, Francis Mampuya, Julie Djikey,
Androa Mindre Kolo, Christian Botale,
Cedrick Nzolo, Mega Mingiedi Tunga,
and collectives such as SADI, K50, Yebela,
Kongo Nauts. An emblematic work was
created in 2007 in Kinshasa: a bridge.
It connected two areas of the municipality
of Lingwala that were separated by a gutter.
The message is clear: the collective’s task
is to rethink the city. The goal is not to make
up for the government’s failings, but instead
to come up with new or alternative ways
of seeing the city. The basic premise is that
it is up to artists to make their own—
subjective—proposals for organizing and
designing their city. In this sense, the bridge
Katisa (“to go cross” in Lingala) could
be seen as a community service, as well as,
perhaps, a utopia.
Mega Mingiedi Tunga’s personal works
are variations on the city in terms of design:
since maps are things that are not easy
to interpret, the artist seeks to visualize our
desires through them. The 21st century has
already begun and, amidst the confusion,
we are in need of new interpretive
frameworks, of new ways of thinking.
The beings in Kura Shomali’s works seem
to have lost all of their credibility. The artist
has exploded them in order to expose them.
Soldiers, politicians, academicians, guards:
none of them has anything more to say.
Their speeches seem to be coming to an end.
Pathy Tshindele thumbs his nose at form, as
well as at what people will say. The figures
of his omniscient sovereigns are controlled,
while the silhouettes of his hysterical citizens
are erupting all over the place. Even though
the artist has outfitted them with multiple
eyes and connected them to all kinds of
devices, they still seem to be overwhelmed
by a sense of fear. […]
If there was one key observer of everyday
life in Kinshasa in the 1950s and 1960s,
it would certainly be Jean Depara.
His photographs successfully capture
the atmosphere of the city’s nightlife, with
its snappy dressers, its poseurs, its belles
draped over cars that do not belong to them,
its host of musicians, each as talented as the
next, vying to outdo each other every night.
He was also able to immortalize some of the
big names, such as the musician Luambo
Makiadi, alias “Franco de Mi Amor,” alias
“Gourba” who founded the famous OK Jazz
band. Depara understood early on that there
would never be anyone else like him. Nor
did he forget the gangs. For example, the
“Bills” figured prominently in his work, the
young men who personified the heroes of
the American West: Buffalo Bill, Pecos Bill,
Billy the Kid. Let’s not forget that Kinshasa
is a place where one goes after one’s dreams,
and that movies do not only happen up
on the screen. Depara was there to capture
real life.
Brussels, May 2015
Jean Depara, Sans titre, c. 1955-65
Popular Music and Time in the Congo
by Bob W. White
Excerpt FROM the catalog
13
Congolese popular dance music is not simply
a form of entertainment; it is a source of
inspiration and an object of national pride.
People in the Democratic Republic of the
Congo are proud of their music, and for
perfectly good reasons given the impact it
has had beyond Congolese borders. Indeed,
for Johannes Fabian, Congolese popular
music is the most important gift that the
Congo has offered to the people of Africa. 1
And yet this uniquely African style of music
is filled with paradoxes, not the least of
which is that despite its widespread success
in much of Sub-Saharan Africa, Congolese
popular music is virtually unknown in
the West.
African music generally conjures up
images of talking drums and raffia skirts,
but this is not the way that Congolese
music looks or sounds. To the uninitiated,
Congolese popular music sounds vaguely
like afro-Cuban music, but the prominence
of the guitar sets it apart from its cousins in
the Americas; the complex layering sound
of Congolese guitar styles gives the music
a uniquely modern sound that is electric but
also rooted. Most songs begin with a slow,
lyrical introduction that alternates between
crooning melodies and solo guitar riffs.
This introduction is generally followed by a
series of choruses with a more upbeat tempo
and a mostly male chorus singing harmony
in parallel thirds or fifths. Finally, the song
goes from words to motion, as the music
spills over into a fast-paced extended dance
sequence that has come to be one of the
trademarks of the genre. The rhythm during
this part of the song (cavacha) is said
to have been inspired by the driving sound
of locomotive engines and it is this rhythm
that serves as a sonic backdrop for some
of the most spectacular choreographed
dancing in popular music anywhere in the
world. 2 Visually speaking, Congolese music
is not only flashy, but it is also boldly and
unapologetically modern. Musicians dress
in western style clothes (preferably designer
fashions), they star in increasingly expensive
music video productions and seek visible
signs of material wealth in pursuit of what
Georges Balandier referred to as “la passion
moderniste.” 3 In fact, for many years people
in the Congo referred to this music as
“la musique moderne.”
There are three basic genres of local
music in the Congo—traditional, religious,
and “modern.” La musique moderne
(or rumba) is the music that dominates local
television and radio, but religious music
has become increasingly important over
the last twenty years, in part because it has
integrated stylistic aspects from popular
music, including the use of choreographed
dance sequences. 4 Dancing is clearly an
important part of popular music, but it is
not the primary reason that people in
Kinshasa listen to the music. It is also not
the only reason that music continues to be
such an important part of everyday lives.
In order to understand the beauty and the
power of Congolese popular music, 5 we need
to understand a few things about where
the music came from and how it has changed
over time. […]
Love Songs Are Never
Just About Love
Today, when you ask Congolese people why
their music is important, they invariably
say because of what it teaches them about
life and love. At one level, the lyrics of
Congolese rumba seem to be completely
obsessed with matters of the heart: love,
desire, longing, marriage, betrayal, and
regret. Indeed, if there were only two words
in Congolese popular music, it would have
to be bolingo (“love”) and motema (“heart”),
with libala (“marriage”) coming in a tie for
third. Congolese popular music is hopelessly
romantic. Men sing songs of longing
for feminine affection, of admiration for
feminine grace. They lament the women
that make them go crazy (nakomi zoba),
that leave them ill (na beli), that bring them
to tears (na leli). […]
Generations Come and Go
For all that Congolese popular music tells us
about romantic relationships, it tells us even
more about relations between generations.
In fact, the question of musical generations
continues to be one of the most lively—and
sometimes contentious—topics of discussion
about popular music in Kinshasa. Most
musicians in Kinshasa trace their inspiration
through a series of influences or musical
“schools,” but they are also members
of generations, and this sense of belonging
to a particular generation is expressed
as being a part of history. Some musicians
and groups outlive the demographic range
of their generation and others fade out way
before the next generation makes claims
to the podium. Certain musicians (like
Papa Wemba and Koffi Olomidé) are able
to reinvent themselves and maintain their
popularity in more than one generation.
Others (such as Sam Mangwana, King
Kester Emeneya, and Godé Lofombo)
played an important role as innovators at the
intersection of two generations and they may
be well-remembered (even revered) but it
is difficult to say with any certainty to which
generation they belong. […]
french version only
Tango ya Bawendo (1940–55)
Stories about the history of popular music
in Kinshasa often begin with the first
generation of musicians generally referred
to as Tango ya Bawendo (“the time of the
Wendos”). Antoine Wendo Kolosoy (1925–
2008), the figurehead of this generation
of pioneers was an active performer until
the end of his life, having experienced
a Buena Vistaesque late-career comeback
with several late-life albums and a relatively
active touring schedule. […]
The Era of Big Rumba (1955–70)
The second generation of Congolese
popular music is generally associated with
the songs of Franco (his full name Luambo
Makiadi, 1938–89), “le Seigneur” Tabu Ley
Rochereau (1940–2013), and the pioneering
figure of Joseph Kabasele “Grand Kallé”
(1930–83). In fact Kabasele might be seen
as a transitional figure since he was both
employed in the studio houses (Opika)
and later broke off to form his own group:
African Jazz. Kabasele is probably the most
revered artist in the history of Congolese
popular music, in part because he demanded
a certain degree of professionalism from
the musicians in his group, but also because
he had a beautiful voice and the sound
he created with African Jazz was modern,
clean, and cosmopolitan. Kabasele
and his musicians were asked to play
at the roundtable discussions surrounding
independence in Brussels and without
a doubt his most well-known song is
“Independence Cha Cha,” a song which
was heard across sub-Saharan Africa.
African Jazz became a model for
autonomous professional band structures
and the particular African Jazz sound
(often referred to as “fiesta”) is still a source
of inspiration for musicians today. […]
Montreal, April 2015
1
Johannes Fabian, Moments of Freedom: Anthropology
and Popular Culture, Charlottesville: University of
Virginia Press, 1998.
2
See Bob W. White, Rumba Rules: The Politics of Dance Music
in Mobutu’s Zaire, Durham: Duke University Press, 2008.
3
Georges Balandier, Sociologie des Brazzavilles noires,
Paris: Armand Colin, 1955.
4
Religious music has also become increasingly important
because of historical and economic factors, many people
turning to religion during times of crisis. See Katrien Pype,
“Dancing for God or the Devil: Pentecostal Discourse on
Popular Dance in Kinshasa”, in Journal of Religion in Africa,
vol. 36/3–4, 2006, pp. 296–318.
5
See Bob W. White, “Notes sur l’esthétique de la rumba
congolaise”, in Circuits, vol. 21/2, 2011, pp. 101–10.
THE CATALOG
14
Beauté Congo — 1926-2015 — Congo Kitoko
Further enhancing the exhibition is the eponymously titled catalog,
a reference work on artistic creation in the Congo. Including over
360 black-and-white and color reproductions, it explores the
wealth of Congolese production from the late 1920s to the
modern day. Scholarly texts, in addition to interviews with artists
and a detailed chronology provide a deeper understanding of
the artistic and historical contexts in which the works on display
were created.
With texts by
Thomas Bayet, In Koli Jean Bofane, Michael De Plaen, Frédéric
Lomami Haffner, Nancy Rose Hunt, Jean-Christophe Lanquetin,
Elikia M’Bokolo, André Magnin, Dominique Malaquais, Pedro
Monaville, Bob W. White
Publisher: Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain, Paris
French version only / Hardback, 22 cm × 29 cm, 380 pages,
360 black-and-white and color reproductions
Price: €47 / ISBN: 978-2-86925-118-2
dJIlATenDo
Né vers 1895 à Luluabourg (auj. Kananga),
province du Kasaï-Occidental
Décédé au début des années 1950
Djilatendo, Sans titre, 1931, aquarelle sur papier, 32 x 50 cm
42
Beauté Congo
Djilatendo
Papa Mfumu’eto Ier
JeaN DePaRa
Né en 1928 à Kibokolo, Angola
Décédé en 1997 à Kinshasa
Né en 1963 à Matadi, province du Bas-Congo
Vit à Kinshasa
Papa Mfumu’eto Ier, Mama Lengela Libala, nº 1, 1991,
impression sur papier, 21 x 14,5 cm
Jean Depara, Sans titre (Autoportrait), 1975, tirage gélatino-argentique, 28 x 28 cm
Jean Depara, Sans titre (Franco à la guitare), 1956, tirage gélatino-argentique, 28 x 28 cm
Congo Kitoko
Papa Mfumu’eto Ier, Basi ya Mutu Pasi, nº 1, 1991,
impression sur papier, 21 x 14,5 cm
Papa Mfumu’eto Ier, dessin original pour Muan’a Mbanda, Super nº 4, 1990, encre sur papier calque, 20 x 14 cm
Papa Mfumu’eto Ier, Likambo ya Ngaba, 1991,
impression sur papier, 21 x 14,5 cm
292
43
Jean Depara
293
270
Beauté Congo
Papa Mfumu’eto Ier, Mwasi ya Tata, nº 2, 1992,
impression sur papier, 21 x 14,5 cm
Papa Mfumu’eto I er
271
the Fondation Cartier and African
Contemporary Art
15
1994
1995
1995
African Contemporary Art
Since we first opened our doors in Jouy-en-Josas in 1984, the
Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain has worked to promote
African artists and photographers, helping them gain recognition
on the international stage. Malian photographers Seydou Keita
and Malick Sidibé (who exhibited here outside Africa for the first
time), Congolese sculptor Bodys Isek Kingelez, painter Chéri Samba
from Kinshasa and Nigerian photographer J. D. ’Okhai Ojeikere
are among the diverse artists who have been honored in landmark
solo exhibitions at Fondation Cartier.
Numerous works by African artists have featured in group
exhibitions, including drawings by Ivorian Frédéric Bruly Bouabré
in Azur (1993) and Comme un oiseau (1996), paintings by Mode Muntu
in By Night (1996), paintings by Moke in Un art populaire (2001),
and an outstanding selection of voodoo sculptures from Benin in
the exhibition Vodun: African Voodoo (2011).
The sheer volume of works by these extraordinary artists which are
held in the Fondation Cartier’s collection attests to our dedication
to African Contemporary Art.
2001
2000
2004
2011
2012
Beauté Congo
Chéri Samba’s residence in the studios of the Fondation Cartier
pour l’art contemporain in Jouy-en-Josas in 1990 was a turning point
in his career as an artist, ushering his work onto the international
stage. More than a decade later, in 2004, the Fondation Cartier
hosted Samba’s first retrospective exhibition, an opportunity
for the public to discover his infamous “griffe sambaïenne” style.
In 1995, the new Fondation Cartier building, designed by Jean
Nouvel, was the venue for a landmark solo exhibition by Bodys
Isek Kingelez, which presented to the public his “extreme models,”
“extra-models” or “super-models” as the artist dubbed them.
Four years later, his utopian work of fantasy, Projet pour le Kinshasa
du troisième millénaire was presented as part of the exhibition
Un monde réel. The piece was acquired for the Fondation Cartier’s
collection and has since been loaned to numerous institutions
around the world.
In 2012, a stunning selection of little-known works dating from 1920
to 1940, by artists as diverse as Djilatendo, Albert Lubaki, Mwenze
Kibwanga and Lukanga, was presented in the exhibition Histoires
de voir, Show and Tell.
Chéri Samba in his studio at the Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain
in Jouy-en Josas, 1990
THE NOMADIC NIGHTS
16
For the Beauté Congo – 1926-2015 – Congo Kitoko exhibition,
the Nomadic Nights invite artists and personalities from the Congolese
cultural scene to spend an afternoon or evening in the exhibition spaces
and garden of the Fondation Cartier. A fashion show, concerts,
performances or streaming radio... So many projects and voices which
explore the living art of the Congo.
PROGRAM
Thursday, October 8 at 9 pm
Ray Lema – Solo piano
Saturday, July 18 at 3 pm
Césarine Sinatu Bolya and the Mémoires
Vives Congo Afrique association
The Pagne in all its glory
Followed by a concert with Baniel (vocals),
Muki (trumpet) and Papa Noël (guitar)
[Concert]
Monday, October 12 at 8 pm
Pierre Kwenders
Le Dernier Empereur Bantou
[Concert]
[Fashion show + concert in the g arden]
Sunday, July 19 at 4 pm
Kasaï Allstars
[Concert in the g arden]
Saturday, October 24 at 8:30 pm
Faustin Linyekula and Studios Kabako
present: Fanfares Funérailles by Papy
Ebotani
[Musical and ambul atory performance]
Monday, July 20 at 9 pm
Faustin Linyekula – Le Cargo
[Performance in the g arden]
Thursday, September 17 to Saturday
September 19, from 5 pm to 10 pm
Pan African Space Station
Chimurenga, the Pan-African magazine
dedicated to culture, art and politics,
installs its alternative Internet radio station
“Pan African Space Station” in the galleries
of the Fondation Cartier. During three
days of exceptional live entertainment,
personalities from all walks of life will
seize air time for an exciting variety show
marked with concerts and performances,
all with the intent of sharing the richness
of Congolese culture with listeners and
attendees.
Monday, October 26 at 8 pm
Musical carte blanche for interpretations
of the piece Coup Fatal by Serge Kakudji,
Rodriguez Vangama, Fabrizio Cassol
and Alain Platel
[Concerts]
Monday, November 9 at 8 pm
Literature, poetry and Congolese writings
[Performances, lectures, discussions
with authors in attendance]
Thursday, November 12 at 9 pm
Carte blanche to artist Richard Mosse
[Video install ation, concert]
From Saturday, July 11 to Sunday, August 2nd, from 11 am to 8 pm*
Éliane Radigue and Laetitia Sonami, Traversée du Labyrinthe Sonore
[Install ation in the g arden]
In 1970, Eliane Radigue designed her first “Labyrinthe
Sonore” [Sound Labyrinth] for the French Pavilion
at the Osaka World’s Fair. Too technically complex
at the time, it wasn’t actually produced until 1998,
during the artist’s residency with the students and
musicians of Mills College in California. For three
weeks, beginning July 11, 2015, Éliane Radigue
will recreate this installation—which she considers
to be one of the most important of her works
from the 1960s—in the garden of the Fondation
Cartier and has invited Laetitia Sonami to create
the “heart.”
Opening in presence of the artists
on Saturday july 11 at 5 pm
INFORMATION
The Nomadic Nights and Nights of Uncertainty
program is available on: fondation.cartier.com
Admission €10.50
Reduced rate €7
(Students, spectators under 25 or over 65,
unemployment and welfare beneficiaries,
Maison des Artistes, partner organizations,
Ministry of Culture, Amis des Musées)
Reservation
Tel. +33 (0)1 42 18 56 72 every day except Monday,
11 am to 8 pm
*Access with the exhibition ticket
internet
17
PAPA MFUMU’ETO IER ON FONDATION.CARTIER.COM
Extending the exhibition online, His Majesty
Emperor Papa Mfumu’eto Ier opens one
of the many secret doors to his empire.
He welcomes the visitor into his immense
and bizarre visual library to discover
the “truly exceptional and disorienting”
pieces—according to his own words—
on the lives of the Congolese living in
Kinshasa, in the Democratic Republic of
Congo, in Europe and around the world.
This Bantu artist-philosopher, paintercartoonist like no other, and informal
poet-journalist recounts original stories
in the form of comics, published one strip
every day from July to November 2015.
FOLLOW EXCLUSIVELY ON
FONDATION.CARTIER.CO M
Exclusive content, filmed interviews, and unpublished
documents are regularly posted on fondation.cartier.com
as an extension of the visit to the exhibitions.
The exhibition on line
Find a guided tour of the exhibition
presenting each space and its theme on
fondation.cartier.com. Many documents
from the exhibition’s catalog are available
to prepare for or contribute to your visit:
lengthy interviews with artists such as
Chéri Samba or JP Mika, chronological
and geographical references, etc.
FILMS
Over forty films are screened throughout
the exhibition. With the help of many
interviews, the Fondation Cartier gives
the floor first and foremost to the artists,
scientific contributors and lenders/
collectors. Thematic tours lead by the
exhibition’s curators will also be available
online to illustrate and explain the journey
of the exhibition.
Similarly, all Nomadic Nights and the three
days of Radio N’Tone live (in collaboration
with PASS) will be available on
fondation.cartier.com.
Dedicated Website for
the Fondation Cartier’s Garden
A new dedicated website (jardin.
fondationcartier.com) is a treasure trove
of information on the garden at Fondation
Cartier. Online visitors can access
documentation, scientific data,
photographs and audiovisual content that
have been collected over more than three
years, and explore the fauna and flora of this
thriving and atypical case study in urban
biodiversity. A platform for environmental
issues, the site features videos of the Nights
of Uncertainty series, including events
such as Bat Night and Night of Honey, and
allows users to (re)visit our exhibitions on
the natural world.
THE e-shop
The e-shop allows for the purchase of
Fondation Cartier’s publications online—
exhibition catalogs, coloring books,
essays, and limited editions by the artists
of the Fondation Cartier.
The Fondation Cartier “Laissez-passer”
pass can also be ordered via the e-shop.
› eshop.fondationcartier.com
SOCIAL NETWORKS
With new posts every day, the Facebook
page reveals new takes on the Fondation
Cartier’s activities, as well as exclusive
offers. On Twitter and Instagram, daily
posts offer a unique opportunity to follow
the activities of the Fondation Cartier.
Keep up on all the latest news of
Fondation Cartier on
YOUNG PEOPLE
18
COLORING BOOKS
Coloriages avec Chéri Samba
The Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain asked worldfamous Congolese painter Chéri Samba to create a coloring book.
This is a unique chance for children to discover the “griffe
sambaïenne” (Samba style) and make his work their own. The book
features bright colors, texts, and glitter.
With nine issues, this unique collection of coloring books invites
children to discover the world of artists who have exhibited at the
Fondation Cartier.
Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain, Paris
French version / Softbound, 24 pages, 24 × 34 cm
Price: €9 / ISBN: 978-2-86925-110-6
activities for children
For the Beauté Congo – 1926-2015 – Congo Kitoko exhibition, the Fondation
Cartier pour l’art contemporain carries on its program of
workshops and guided tours specially geared towards young visitors.
The Fondation Cartier will offer creative workshops inspired
by the installation pieces and family-oriented visits through December.
SATURDAYS AT 11 am
Family visits
Through these family visits, children and
parents alike can participate in an
entertaining discovery of the Beauté Congo
– 1926-2015 – Congo Kitoko exhibition
with an art educator. After having explored
the exhibition in detail, families can enjoy
a self-led visit at their own pace.
WEDNESDAYS and saturdays AT 3 pm
Children’s workshops
After an introduction to the exhibition
by an art educator, children participate
in an original and lively workshop led by
an artistic coordinator. These are special
moments with the exhibition’s works
that give children an opportunity to learn
about and try their hand at various artistic
techniques.
SATURDAYS at 3 PM
Garden tours
The Fondation Cartier offers children
guided tours of the garden led by a young
biodiversity researcher. Children will enjoy
strolling through this timeless garden in
the heart of Paris to discover the abundant
wildlife that inhabits the space around
the Jean Nouvel building.
INFORMATION
Full program and calendar at
fondation.cartier.com/children
FIXED RATE: €10
Reservation required, open one month prior
to the workshop date
RESERVATION
Tel. +33 (0)1 42 18 56 67
From Monday to Friday, 10 am to 6 pm
or at [email protected]
INFORMAtion
19
The Beauté Congo – 1926-2015 – Congo Kitoko exhibition is presented
from July 11 to November 15, 2015 at the Fondation Cartier
pour l’art contemporain.
The exhibition is open everyday except Monday, from 11 am to 8 pm.
Open Tuesday evenings until 10 pm.
Everyday at 6 pm, a free guided tour of the exhibition
is included with the exhibition ticket.
AccESS
VISITS
THE “LAISSEZ-PASSER” PASS
261, boulevard Raspail 75014 Paris
Metro Raspail or Denfert-Rochereau
(lines 4 and 6)
RER Denfert-Rochereau (line B)
Buses 38, 68, 88, 91
Vélib’ and disabled parking at
2, rue Victor Schoelcher
SELF-LED GROUP TOURS
ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION €30
THE EXHIBITION
GUIDED TOURS
ADMISSION €10.50
REDUCED PRICE €7
Students, under 25, “carte Senior”
holders, unemployed, beneficiaries of
minimum social benefits, “Maison des
Artistes,” partner institutions, Ministre
de la Culture, “Amis des Musées”
FREE ADMISSION
Children under 13, visitors under 18
on Wednesdays, “Laissez-passer” pass
holders, ICOM members, press card,
invalidity card.
Wednesday to Sunday from 11 am to 6 pm,
and Tuesday until 8 pm (min. 10 people)
ADULTS €9 per person
SCHOOL GROUPS AND SENIORS
€4 per person
(free admission for group leaders)
Guided tour with an art educator from
Wednesday to Friday from 11 am to 6 pm
and Tuesday until 8 pm (min. 10 people)
ADULTS €12 per person
SCHOOL GROUPS AND SENIORS
€5 per person
(free admission for group leaders)
ARCHITECTURAL VISITS
One Saturday per month, at 11 am
and 5 pm (10 to 20 people at maximum)
Duration of the visit: 1 hour
ADULTS €12
SCHOOL GROUPS AND SENIORS €10
COMBINED TICKET
Guided tour with art educator +
Architectural Visit
ADULTS €20
SCHOOL GROUPS AND SENIORS €14
INFORMATION AND RESERVATION
From Monday to Friday, 10 am to 6 pm
Tel. +33 (0)1 42 18 56 67
[email protected]
DUO €50
(you and the person of your choice)
REDUCED PRICE €25
(Students, “carte Senior,” “carte famille
nombreuse,” unemployed, “Maison des
Artistes”)
Under 25 €18
CE (Staff Committee) Please consult us
INFORMATION AND SUBSCRIPTION
From Monday to Friday, 10 am to 6 pm
Tel. +33 (0)1 42 18 56 67
[email protected]
or online at eshop.fondationcartier.com
The Beauté Congo – 1926-2015 – Congo Kitoko
exhibition, presented from July 11 to November
15, 2015, is organized with support from the
Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain, under
the aegis of the Fondation de France, and with
the sponsorship of Cartier.
MEDIA PARTNERS
20
The world radio station RFI and the trilingual
news channel FRANCE 24 are happy to be partners
of the Beauté Congo – 1926-2015 – Congo Kitoko
exhibition at the Fondation Cartier pour l’art
contemporain.
Media outlets from the France Médias Monde
group have always been dedicated to supporting
and promoting classical and contemporary
African art.
RFI and FRANCE 24 will share a view of nearly
100 years of artistic creation in the Democratic
Republic of Congo with their listeners, viewers
and online users on the air.
Their journalists and unique network of
correspondents from “France Médias Monde” offer
accessible news on the world, cultural diversity
and points of view, broadcast around the world
from Paris in fourteen languages through their
newspapers, reports, magazines and debates.
Find out more: france24.com and rfi.fr
As of January 6, 2015, Le Monde extends beyond
its borders with the creation of Le Monde Afrique,
a website dedicated to becoming the leading
francophone and Pan-African media outlet.
It will ensure that the richness and diversity of the
54 countries of the African continent are reflected
through its political, economic, societal and
cultural insights, all with the values of accuracy
and impartiality of Le Monde.
Thus Le Monde Afrique is thrilled to partner with
the Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain
for the Beauté Congo – 1926-2015 – Congo Kitoko
exhibition, in an attempt to share its keen interest
for African culture with its audience, in this case
with a focus on the Democratic Republic of Congo. Find out more: lemonde.fr/afrique
As a platform for multifaceted expression, the
diversity of cultures and points of view, TV5MONDE,
the leading French-language global culture channel,
partners with the Beauté Congo – 1926-2015 – Congo
Kitoko exhibition, most notably for the creation
of a minisite which will allow users to discover
close to a century of artistic creation.
Find out more: tv5monde.org
This year, Le Parisien is a proud partner of the
Beauté Congo – 1926-2015 – Congo Kitoko exhibition,
a bold initiative which retraces nearly a century
of Congolese artistic production. Through painting,
music and sculpture, this exhibition is an invitation
to discover Congolese culture. Le Parisien has
always accompanied great cultural events in Paris
and Île-de-France, from music, exhibitions, film
and theater, to literature.
Le Parisien-Aujourd’hui en France in numbers:
in 2014, distribution of Le Parisien-Aujourd’hui
en France had reached over 400,000 issues,
representing 2,451,000 readers each morning.
In terms of presence online, Le Parisien is number
1 for mobile and social media, and ranks fifth
for news sites.
Find out more: leparisien.fr
Radio Nova is delighted to be associated with
the Beauté Congo – 1926-2015 – Congo Kitoko
exhibition presented at the Fondation Cartier
pour l’art contemporain. Radio Nova broadcasts
its programs in 27 cities across France and
garners 660,000 listeners, continually on the rise
for the past 5 years. Over the past 35 years, many
sounds have emerged on Nova: international
music which became world music, rap, reggae,
acid jazz, as well as French and international
electronic music.
With an ever current lineup, a constantly reinvented
form, hosts who are all journalists and an ever
changing sound, Radio Nova is a world leader
in radio.
Find out more: novaplanet.com
Télérama is thrilled to support the Fondation
Cartier pour l’art contemporain, a Mecca for
contemporary creativity, for its Beauté Congo
– 1926-2015 – Congo Kitoko exhibition. The visual
arts are at the center of Télérama, as its mission
is to make every culture that composes culture
accessible to the widest possible audience.
In addition to the topics dealt with in the magazine,
each week Télérama devotes a chronicle and three
pages to current events in “Arts and Forms,”
thereby enriching its approach to design, fashion
and architecture.
Find out more: telerama.fr and sortir.telerama.fr
Acknowledgements
The Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain
would like to thank Émotions Culinaires, a partner
this year which has contributed all of its expertise
at the complete disposal of its events, soirées
and parties. Founded in 2010, Émotions Culinaires
is already a world leader in event planning,
a signature of the most beautiful Parisian social
events. Simplicity, professionalism and above
all the love a job well done are the core values
of Émotions Culinaires.
Find out more: emotionsculinaires.com
—
La Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain
would like to thank Chef Malonga Dieuveil, whose
contribution to afro-fusion cuisine has added
to its constantly growing respectability and helped
to usher it into the ranks of high gastronomy.
the fondation cartier
pour l’art contemporain
21
NEXT EXHIBITIONs
fernell franco
December 2015 › March 2016
Daido Moriyama
December 2015 › March 2016
The Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain presents the first
international retrospective dedicated to Fernell Franco, a major yet
little-known figure of Columbian photography, who passed away in
2006. Born in 1942, he began his career in Cali as a photojournalist
and quickly became specialized in the fields of advertising and
fashion photography. At the same time, starting in the 1970s
he completed a number of photo series, most notably on prostitutes
(Prostituas, 1970–72), abandoned homes in ruin (Demoliciones,
1980–90) and pool halls (Billares, 1985), painting the portrait
of a nocturnal and working-class Cali resident. His melancholic
twilight photographs are inspired by Italian neorealism and film
noir, as well as Cali’s art scene, home to many talented artists.
A pioneering experimental artist, Fernell Franco often manipulated
his prints, going beyond the limits of documentary photography
to create metaphoric, almost pictorial works. His sensitive and
singular work places him, without doubt, among the great authors
of the universal history of photography.
The work of Daido Moriyama, a legendary figure in Japanese
photography, is to be the subject of a solo exhibition at the Fondation
Cartier pour l’art contemporain from December 2015 to March 2016.
Moriyama (born 1938 in Ikeda) invented a new visual language
in his work from the mid-1960s onwards. Frenetic and tormented,
it depicted a reality that was grainy, blurry and out-of-focus.
In 2004, the Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain organized
a landmark solo exhibition of Moriyama’s black and white work.
His lesser-known color photography will feature in this latest
exhibition. Depicting underground neighborhoods in the Japanese
capital—a favorite location for the photographer—these exclusively
color images reference the motifs that are omnipresent in the artist’s
work, as well as his penchant for textures and shaky compositions.
Curator: Alexis Fabry
Curator: Maria Wills Londoño and Alexis Fabry
THE COLLECTION
The works of the Fondation Cartier’s collection are lent for tours,
thematic exhibitions and retrospectives. The memories and stories
associated with this unique collection thus expand and multiply
over the years.
This year, many pieces from the collection will be exhibited in
France and throughout the world. From Seoul to Copenhagen, Milan
to Brisbane, the collection travels to the most prestigious institutions.
Among all the events that have allowed the collection’s pieces
to be exhibited, an extensive retrospective of Alessandro Mendini
organized in Wroclaw, Poland was a key opportunity to exhibit
some of the most emblematic works by the Italian designer
(such as the Poltrona di Proust, the Petite Cathédrale, the Cavaliere);
in Australia, at the Queensland Art Gallery, an installation
by David Lynch and many drawings from the Binder Works series
were displayed during a personal exhibition by the artist; for
the Expo 2015, the Triennale de Milano will exhibit Woman
with Shopping by Ron Mueck, recently entered in the Fondation
Cartier’s collection; Le Tryptique de Noirmoutier, a monumental
video installation by Agnès Varda, will be exhibited in Barcelona,
at the CaixaForum, in January 2016.
› Find out more on the history of the collection at 30ans.
fondationcartier.com
Sammy Baloji ⁄ Steve Bandoma
Bela ⁄ Pierre Bodo ⁄ Buya
Chéri Chérin ⁄ Jean Depara
Djilatendo ⁄ Grégory
Norbert Ilunga ⁄ Sylvestre Kaballa
Kabeya ⁄ Raphaël Kalela
Jean-Bosco Kamba ⁄ Kiripi Katembo
Kayembe ⁄ Mwenze Kibwanga
Oscar Kilima ⁄ Bodys Isek Kingelez
Cheik Ledy ⁄ Albert Lubaki
Antoinette Lubaki ⁄ Lukanga
Paul Mampinda ⁄ Oscar Memba Freitas
Papa Mfumu’eto Ier ⁄ Jp Mika
Mega Mingiedi Tunga
Moke ⁄ Pilipili Mulongoy
Mode Muntu ⁄ Mwema ⁄ N’kulu
Ambroise Ngaimoko – Studio 3Z
Ngoma ⁄ Rigobert Nimi
Chéri Samba ⁄ Kura Shomali
Monsengo Shula
Pathy Tshindele ⁄ Yumba
fondation.cartier.com