New Art from Congo…

Steve Bandoma, Ju Suis Jeune [Cassius Clay Series], 2014.

CNN reports on an ongoing Paris-based Foundation Cartier exhibition titled Beaute Congo, of new and interesting art from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). According to CNN, “The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) used to bring to mind images of civil war and conflict. Lately, the country is conjuring another image: that of trendsetters. The sapeur fashion movement has inspired designers from around the world, including, most recently, British designer Paul Smith, and homegrown musicians, like Papa Wemba and Koffi Olomide, have become global sensations. Now, the international art world is also turning to the DRC”.

As with many such reports, CNN overlooks important history. The Congo has always been a global trendsetter, and this dates to the earliest contact between West Africa and Europe. The first Europeans to set eyes on Mbanza Kongo, capital of the ancient kingdom of Kongo, were quite stunned by the range of cultural and artistic practices they encountered. Renamed the Christian Kingdom of Sao Salvador after Kongo Mani (king) Nzinga a Nkuwu (r. 1970-1509) the Kongo court converted to Christianity and took the name Joao the First. That Christian Kingdom survived in various forms until 1665 when Portuguese Slave trading resulted in a war that destroyed the kingdom. Kongo (and later, Kuba) cloth were major fashion accessories in Portugal during this period. Ivory sculpture from the Kongo was collected by Renaissance potentates, and Kongo emissaries turned heads in their visits to royal courts in Portugal, Brazil and Italy (See the impressive documentation of Kongo Christianity in Cecile Fromont, The Art of Conversion. Kongo peoples were also behind some of the most important developments of new diaspora religions and identities by Africans in the West.

Indigenous Congo art is one of the most varied and sophisticated artistic traditions in history. It is therefore not unusual that contemporary Congo art should be equally sophisticated and varied. It is however good that global attention is once again turning to this complex region with its long and venerable history of important artistic developments.