53 ECHOES OF ZAIRE: POPULAR PAINTING FROM LUBUMBASHI, DRC by Sulger-Buel Lovell

53 echoes of Zaire

Popular Painting from Lubumbashi, DRC

53 echoes of Zaire Popular Painting from Lubumbashi, DRC

s u lger - b u el lov el l LONDON I CAPE TOWN

53 echoes of Zaire: Popular Painting from Lubumbashi, DRC is published in conjunction with the exhibition of the same title organised and presented by Sulger-Buel Lovell gallery and the Africa Centre. Editor: Salimata Diop, Head of Programme at the Africa Centre Design: Tanja Truscott Book Design www.tanjatruscott.co.za Copyright May 2015. © Sulger-Buel Lovell gallery © The Africa Centre, London All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written permission of the Sulger-Buel Lovell gallery, The Loft, unit 2 La Gare, 51 Surrey Row, London SE1 0BZ, UK and the Africa Centre, 35-47 Bethnal Green Rd, London E1 6LA, UK. Front cover: Le 30 juin 1960, Zaïre indépendant, Tshibumba Kanda Matulu Photography: All catalogue objects by Etienne Bol.

Contents 3

Preface & Acknowledgments

4 About Sulger-Buel Lovell 5 About the Africa Centre 7

Part one Colonie Belge

Part two Usine Gécamines

Part three The Balubakat

Part four Lumumba

Part five Pre-colonial time

55 Artist or Historian? 57 Tshibumba Kanda Matulu 61

Etienne Bol and Tshibumba – The photographer meets the artist

Popular Painting in Katanga

Preface & Acknowledgments I am honoured to present 53 echoes of Zaire: Popular Painting from Lubumbashi, DRC, unveiling an impressive collection of Popular Painting from the early 1970s’ Katanga. The adventure started with my encounter with Etienne Bol, who not only let me discover his collection of paintings, but shared wonderful stories, anecdotes and memories of Lubumbashi and of Tshibumba. Each of these fifty-three works is a treasure of memory. Each depicts emblematic moments of Congolese history and culture that are today passed on from five remarkable painters from Lubumbashi to us. I offer my deepest thanks to the Trustees of the Africa Centre, without whom this would not have been possible, and to the Sulger-Buel Lovell gallery for their appreciation of the aesthetical and historical value of this collection, and for their continuous support throughout the preparation of the show.

66 A New Necessity 72 Thanks 73 Artists index 74 Index of works

Finally, I wish to express my gratitude to Etienne Bol, from whom I have learnt so much. Salimata Diop

76 Exhibitions 77 Bibliography

About Sulger-Buel Lovell

About the Africa Centre

Sulger-Buel Lovell is positioned as part of a new approach in understanding the trajectories of contemporary African art and its relationship with the cultural heritage of Africa. It focuses on the challenges that artists are confronting in the urban environment of contemporary Africa, where art is a configuration of local, regional and intercontinental ideas and practices. In the process of social and cultural change in Africa, Sulger-Buel Lovell is determined to highlight the increasing interconnection of artists through the process of globalisation, and to exhibit significant established and emerging talents.

The Africa Centre was established in 1964, becoming a vibrant home-away-from-home and cultural hub for the African diaspora in London.

Sulger-Buel Lovell is born from a desire to support and focus on artists working in, or originating from, Africa and its diaspora. Both partners wish to share their passion for contemporary African art with artists, collectors, and the public. The gallery is committed to long term relationships with the most promising contemporary African artists as well as with collectors.

Throughout its rich history, the Africa Centre has inspired, enlightened and challenged its community and beyond. In the seventies the Africa Centre was a vital instrument for the multiple voices of liberation during the struggles for independence on the continent. It also hosted numerous talks, exhibitions, with now established writers and artists such as Chinua Achebe, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, Malangatana, and others. The Africa Centre has had a long and rich heritage and duty as custodians of African culture and society in the UK. It has always been at the forefront of the changes in the continent, representing the diversity and potential of Africa in the UK. The Africa Centre’s mission is to offer everyone with an interest in African current affairs and contemporary culture and business, the opportunity to socialise, network and meet like-minded people via a dynamic programme of events scheduled throughout the year. After having moved from its original King Street premises in 2013, the Centre continues to look forward to interacting with its community and providing a rich cultural programme.

Part one

Colonie Belge ‘Colonie Belge’ refers to a genre of Popular Painting, where the colonial oppression is depicted in codified scenes; often, a prisoner is being flogged by an African policeman, while the white administrator watches on, in the yard of a colonial prison. Another typical scene depicts a man pressed into forced labour in a field, while female relatives, who are caring for the prisoners, look on. ‘Colonie Belge’ and other genres like paintings depicting the Precolonial time, were collected by local ordinary people, and should not be perceived as individual art objects, but rather as collective reminders of kinds of experience and knowledge. “Colonial experience, although chronologically a thing of the past, remains an active element of present consciousness”. Victor Bol (in McGonagle et al, 1990)

1 | Colonie Belge 1885–1959 Tshibumba Kanda-Matulu 40 x 55cm, Acrylic on canvas

2 | Colonie Belge II, Culture Obligatoire Tshibumba Kanda-Matulu 40 x 68cm, Acrylic on canvas

3 | Congo Belge II Kalema 52.5 x 69cm, Acrylic on canvas

“Some of the ‘Congo Belge’ paintings convey powerful feelings that arouse empathy, horror, and shame in the viewer alongside admiration for the skill of the artists.” Susan Hiller, unknown date

4 | Congo Belge Kalema 51 x 67cm, Acrylic on canvas

5 | Congo Belge C. Mutombo 48.5 x 92.5cm, Acrylic on canvas

6 | Colonie Belge 1941, Gouverneur Marron dans Martyrs de l’U.M.H.K à Lubumbashi Tshibumba Kanda-Matulu 45.5 x 73.5cm, Acrylic on canvas

7 | La Mort de Bodson tué par M’siri Tshibumba Kanda-Matulu 72.5 x 46.5cm, Acrylic on canvas

8 | Le Fils du Chef Katanga tué par M’siri l’Ami de son Père

9 | La Tête historique de M’siri, Msiri fût coupé la Tête

Tshibumba Kanda-Matulu 40.5 x 61cm, Acrylic on canvas

Tshibumba Kanda-Matulu 47.5 x 73cm, Acrylic on canvas

10 | La Victoire de la Force publique sur les Envahisseurs italiens du Kenya 1940-45 Tshibumba Kanda-Matulu 39 x 61cm, Acrylic on canvas

11 | (Simon) Kimbangu

12 | Les Mercenaires de Bukavu

Tshibumba Kanda-Matulu 40.5 x 77.5cm, Acrylic on canvass

Tshibumba Kanda-Matulu 61 x 45cm, Acrylic on canvas

Part two

Usine Gécamines The Gécamines (Générale des Carrières et des Mines) factory and its slagheap has become a symbol of the exploitation of the resources of the country by Belgium and other Western countries. Located in Elisabethville (now Lubumbashi), it dominates the landscape and therefore became a powerful symbol used by the painters to tell exactly where the events depicted took place. More than a symbol, the Gécamines factory is somehow at the origins of the town, as its creation meant the beginnings of the industry, the creation of jobs. Elisabethville was born: a city without history, where even the language was imported. Indeed,as the first engineers commissioned to establish the copper mines were English from North Rhodesia (now Zambia) who brought over their own experienced Rhodesian workforce who spoke Swahili: Swahili (Kiswahili) was implanted and became the local language.

13 | Attaque de l’Union Miniere Tshibumba Kanda-Matulu 40 x 64.5cm, Acrylic on canvas

15 | L’usine de GecaMine, l’SHI C. Mutombo 59 x 89cm, Acrylic on canvas

14 | GecaMines II Kalema 47 x 69cm, Acrylic on canvas

16 | Attaque de la Mine B. Ilunga 44 x 68.5cm, Acrylic on canvas

“What do you want, it’s not just ‘Mayibwe’ which are the remains of Gécamines! I saw the still warm entrails of brownfields, the famous Congolese economic powerhouse. I saw the memory of an epic illustrated, the heyday of these settlers dapper I’ve seen looks black and white I saw women and children I saw the power I saw the big elephant collapse (on four legs) on the eve of its hundred years. It was enough to read the past in the light of this.” Sammy Baloji, artist

17 | O.N.U contre Katangais, 1960 Ndaie 50 x 74cm, Acrylic on canvas

18 | Le Monstre de la Cessession Katangaise

20 | Manifestation des Femmes katangaises

Tshibumba Kanda-Matulu 41.5 x 54.5cm, Acrylic on canvas

Tshibumba Kanda-Matulu 45.5 x 73cm, Acrylic on canvas

19 | Les Réfugiés de 1960–1963 à Lubumbashi

21 | Kananga de 1960–1965 Tshibumba Kanda-Matulu 40 x 64cm, Acrylic on canvas

Tshibumba Kanda-Matulu 45 x 60.5cm, Acrylic on canvas

Part three

The Balubakat Shortly after the proclamation of Independance of Congo in June 1960, internal unrest erupted, some of it fomented by Belgium and Western financial interests. As unrest spread to the whole country, the leader of the mining province of Katanga, Mo誰se Tshombe, who enjoyed the support of the Mining Union of HautKatanga (UMHK) and a large majority of settlers, took advantage of the Belgian intervention and the chaos in Leopoldville to proclaim the independence of Katanga. Prime Minister Lumumba appealed to the United Nations to put an end to the secession of Katanga, where the situation was further complicated by the fact that the General Association of the Baluba of Katanga (Balubakat) and its leader, Jason Sendwe, were opposed to the secession led by Tshombe. Very soon, gangs of young Baluba in turn rebelled against Elisabethville.

22 | A-Jadotville, le Trouble, les Balubakat et le Kat Tshibumba Kanda-Matulu 52.5 x 41cm, Acrylic on canvas

“LUMUMBA: Quand je pense que pendant cinquante ans, ils ont rampé devant le Belge, et nous n’avons pas plus tôt posé notre cul sur un fauteuil, que les voici à nous mordre les jarrets. UN MINISTRE: C’est gai! elle commence bien, l’indépendance! LUMUMBA: Imbécile! Et comment croyais-tu qu’elle commencerait? Et comment crois-tu qu’elle continuera? Comment croyiez-vous que cela allait se passer? Quand je vous ai nommés ministres, est-ce que vous avez eu l’impression que je vous invitais à une partie de plaisir? En tout cas, je ne vous prends pas en traître. Tout. Nous aurons tout, et en même temps!

23 | Chez Kasongo Nyembo Tshibumba Kanda-Matulu 47 x 72cm, Acrylic on canvas

Et tout de suite : la révolte, le sabotage, la menace, la calomnie, le chantage, la trahison. Vous avez l’air étonnés! C’est ça, le pouvoir: la trahison, la mort peut-être.” Aimé Césaire, Une Saison au Congo, Acte I, Scene 8

24 | Débarquement des Soldats de la Force publique en 1960 Tshibumba Kanda-Matulu 39.5 x 52cm, Acrylic on canvas

26 | Attaque de train III

25 | Attaque de train II

Kalema 45 x 64.5cm, Acrylic on canvas

Kalema 49 x 68cm, Acrylic on canvas

28 | Les Baluba du Kabondo Diamda, 1960 Ă 65 Ndaie 52.5 x 66.5cm, Acrylic on canvas

27 | CC. Mutombo Tshibumba Kanda-Matulu 47 x 78.5cm, Acrylic on canvas

29 | Attaque de train B. Ilunga 45 x 63cm, Acrylic on canvas

Part four

Lumumba In the second half of the 1950’s the cry for independence becomes louder. One of the leaders of the struggle was Patrice Lumumba, a dedicated pan-Africanist whose rise and fall is here narrated by artists from the Katanga. Independence was granted on 30 June 1960, and Lumumba delivered a famous speech in which he condemned the colonial period. Despite becoming prime minister, the government of Lumumba lasted just ten weeks, as first the province of Katanga declared its independence with Belgian support, and then a coup led by the army leader Colonel Joseph Mobutu led to Lumumba’s arrest. On the 17 January 1961, Lumumba was killed in mysterious circumstances. The paintings depicting the years following independence show the hardship and pain of the Congolese people during this period. Joseph Mobutu assumes power in 1965, and proceeded to rule with an iron fist, suppressing the political opposition. He instituted new intuitions of national identity, and changed the name of the country to Zaïre in 1971. During his rule foreign-owned companies were nationalised

30 | Le 30 juin 1960, Zaïre indépendant Tshibumba Kanda-Matulu 46 x 63.5cm, Acrylic on canvas

32 | Conflit Kasavubu – Lumumba Tshibumba Kanda-Matulu 39.5 x 62.5cm, Acrylic on canvas

31 | Déclaration de l’Indépéndance Du Congo Kalema 64 x 85cm, Acrylic on canvas

33 | Arrestation a Lodja Tshibumba Kanda-Matulu 39 x 66cm, Acrylic on canvas

35 | Calvaire d’Afrique Tshibumba Kanda-Matulu 40.5 x 74.5cm, Acrylic on canvas

34 | Untitled (Lumumba arrêté) Kalema 53 x 62cm, Acrylic on canvas

36 | Lumumba 1960 Ndaie 47 x 64cm, Acrylic on canvas

“Narrative paintings like those of Tshibumba Kanda Matulu possess ukumbusho – ‘the ability to cause to remember’ in Swahili. In the mid-1970s, this is how urbanites in southern Congo described the active nature of such images, as the pictures “occasional talk and prompted stories” from the communally shared memories of “past experiences and present predicaments”. Yet, despite the fact that painting on “canvas” (usually made from flour sacks) is a recent expressive form in this part of Africa, such a dynamic capacity did not emerge in colonial or postcolonial times. Rather, it is derived from earlier senses of the efficacy of “art” and systems of mnemonic experience held by Luba and related peoples.“ Mary N. Roberts & Allen F. Roberts (in Jewsiewicki, 1999)

37 | Début de la Carriere politique, Lumumba en Prison central de Buluo à Jadotville Tshibumba Kanda-Matulu 41 x 69cm, Acrylic on canvas

39 | Tombeau sans Cercueil (quartier Luano Lubumbashi) Tshibumba Kanda-Matulu 38 x 60cm, Acrylic on canvas

38 | La Mort historique de Lumumba, Mpolo et Okito Tshibumba Kanda-Matulu 46 x 72.5cm Acrylic on canvas

40 | Discours du 4 janvier 1959, Les Martyrs de l’Indépendance’ Tshibumba Kanda-Matulu 38.5 x 72.5cm, Acrylic on canvas Detail

42 | Discours le plus aplaudi de lâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ONU

41 | Salongo Alinga Mosala

Tshibumba Kanda-Matulu 42 x 75.5cm, Acrylic on canvas

Tshibumba Kanda-Matulu 42 x 76cm, Acrylic on canvas

45 | Une Fois dans l’Histoire du Zaïre (Martyrs de l’Economie)

43 | Manifestation des Etudiants à Kinshasa

Tshibumba Kanda-Matulu 37 x 64cm, Acrylic on canvas

Tshibumba Kanda-Matulu 40 x 61cm, Acrylic on canvas

46 | Débâcle des Acquéreurs

44 | Manifestation des Etudiants à Lubumbashi

Tshibumba Kanda-Matulu 38 x 57cm, Acrylic on canvas

Tshibumba Kanda-Matulu 39.5 x 62cm, Acrylic on canvas

Part five

Pre-colonial time The paintings narrate European explorers visiting the Congo, starting with the Portuguese who entered the Congo in 1487. The stories of this period keep alive the memories of colonial era, particularly slavery and forced labour. Other paintings show the pre-colonial time in Congo, illustrated as the somewhat idyllic calm and pleasant everyday life in the villages. In their work, popular painters return to a mythical landscape when depicting their conception of pre-colonial Africa thus testifying their respect and nostalgia for the traditional way of life of the time.

47 | La Marche dâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Esclaves II Tshibumba Kanda-Matulu 40.5 x 47.5cm, Acrylic on canvas

48 | La Marche dâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Esclaves Tshibumba Kanda-Matulu 48.5x73cm, Acrylic on canvas

50 | Untitled Kalema 47 x 65.5cm, Acrylic on canvas

49 | Untitled Kalema 49 x 61cm, Acrylic on canvas

52 | Untitled (Retour de Chasse) Kalema 59 x 45cm,Acrylic on canvas

51 | Untitled Kalema 49 x 65.5cm, Acrylic on canvas

53 | Untitled (Retour de chasse) Kalema 48.5 x 61.5cm, Acrylic on canvas

Artist or Historian? Over fifty years have passed, and the fight for independences in Africa is now only history to the majority of the population. Texts, records and documentaries about this period shape the way events are remembered. They form a polyphony of voices, of analysis and interpretations. And memories? They are echoes of the past, part facts part imagination and subjectivity. The fifty-three works of the Bol collection were created like legends are created: historical facts transformed by imagination. Their authors therefore acted as historians and artists.

Tshibumba Kanda Matulu Tshibumba Kanda Matulu was born in 1947 in Lubumbashi in the very south of what was then Belgian Congo. His wish was to become a teacher, but he eventually had to find another way of teaching history to his fellow countrymen. “From this disappointed ambition Tshibumba retained a lively intellectual curiosity, and an undying wish to find out about both ancient traditions and also more recent events.” (Victor Bol (in McGonagle, 1990) In the mid-1960s he started training himself to paint and practiced painting as a profession from 1969. In his works, Tshibumba depicts the present and the past through his own eyes, gives an account of Zairian history, from precolonial times to the early 1970s. Tshibumba’s last paintings date from 1981. Various efforts to contact him in the ensuing years have proven fruitless. There is good reason to believe he is dead, a victim of the tragic history of his homeland. “Tshibumba’s history is a popular one that is at times idiosyncratic and at times in line with shared popular understandings, and there are numerous instances where it digresses from official historical timelines, both state-sponsored propaganda and academic accounts. In Remembering the Present, Fabian chose to let Tshibumba’s timeline take precedence and included copious historical footnotes to indicate possible divergences from the official story part history part imagination” (Moyer, 2004)

Tshibumba Kanda Matulu posing with a painting in front of GecaMines

Tshibumba Kanda Matulu posing with an unfinished painting, with his family, in front of his house

Etienne Bol and Tshibumba –

the photographer meets the artist Etienne Bol was introduced to Tshibumba by the anthropologist Johannes Fabian in 1973. He commissioned a number of paintings to the artist, and a friendship was born through these encounters. Etienne was admirative of the creativity and resourcefulness of a man who had so little. Tshibumba accepted to be photographed by Etienne: through his eyes, we are given to discover the artist’s humility when choosing to be portrayed next to a tomb. We catch a glimpse of small, black and white photographs of Mobutu and Lumumba, who are depicted in so much detail in Tshibumba’s works.

Tshibumba Kanda Matulu posing with Friend Etienne Bol

Tshibumba Kanda Matulu portrayed next to a tomb Tshibumba Kanda Matulu painting

Popular Painting in Katanga Popular Painting is a genre traceable to the 1920s, which chronicles contemporary social and political realities in Congo (then ZaĂŻre) This art movement remains very little known outside the continent. Scholars have dedicated their research activities to Popular Painting. They often knew the main actors of the movement in the early 1970s, and shared this knowledge by publishing articles, books and exhibition catalogues. Victor Bol was one of them, along with Johannes Fabian, Dibwe wia Mwembu, Bogumil Jewsiewicki, Paul Faber and others. â&#x20AC;&#x153; During a brief period between the late sixties and the late seventies, popular genre painting bloomed in the urban and industrial Katanga region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (called, respectively, Shaba and Zaire when research was conducted). Scores of artists, most of them self-educated, produced thousands of paintings (acrylics or oils on canvas reclaimed from flour sacking) for local use. Through a limited number of recurrent topics, they articulated a system of shared memories. They recalled ancestral origins, colonial history, the fight for independence, post-colonial struggles for power, and the predicaments of urban African life. Several painters began to represent sequences of historical events, foremost among them Tshibumba Kanda Matulu who thought of himself as a historian.â&#x20AC;&#x153; Fabian, 1998

A New Necessity

Etienne Bol

During the colonial era, development in Zaire, as in almost all Africa, was concentrated in settlements whose locations were almost all chosen to suit the colonial power’s administrative policy and to facilitate exploitation of the territory’s resources. This process was particularly noticeable in Chaba where in 1910 the regional capital, Elizabethville (today Lubumbashi) was created from nothing on an almost empty plateau of the High Katanga. The town, which was the administrative centre for the colonial government and mining industry and seat of a bishop, was reserved for Europeans, as were other smaller towns built along the railway line, also built in 1910. As the mines were developed so the demand for labour became ever more urgent and workers were recruited from as far away as South Kasai. These workers and their families established themselves on the outskirts in ramshackle townships based on tribal and clan loyalties. Later ‘detribalized’ centres were created where the industrial labour force was organized on European administrative lines and ethnic differences were not taken into consideration. At the same time the growing European town grew into a pool offering a varied junior workforce. Standards of accommodation in the African townships rose progressively, with the addition of markets which were places of personal contact and trade of all kinds, not only of merchandise, but perhaps above all, in this oral society, of cultural values; traditions and ways of life transplanted from the village were confronted in all their diversity with the new constraints of industrial life. Some reactions to the European way of life emerged, a desire for the education of children grew, the transmission of information gave rise to rumours, evangelization intensified, offering attitudes often in conflict with the old values on which they were superimposed willy-nilly. The migratory waves continued uninterrupted so that the population was composed of superimposed layers between which there was a slow interpenetration. With independence, the European town was opened to Africans

who took over the administrative posts and established various businesses. Amidst all these changes the traditions of village culture were diluted and confronted with the demands of modern life including technology and a cash economy. Some old practices continued, but the old relationships weakened or became looser. Social standing was no longer measured by an individual’s position in the traditional hierarchy, but by his financial affluence and political influence. Two social and cultural levels now competed with, and simultaneously disrupted all ties between the individual and his native group. Face to face with a deculturalised population vaguely feeling its way towards a new identity under the impetus of independence and the violent upheavals which accompanied it, there was a population passing from a subordinate state to a state of self-determination. Where should it find its identity if not in history? Every people needs a history, needs to recount its history to itself. In the less urbanized regions of Zaire where the oral and ceremonial traditions still live, the role of defining one’s identity is played, supported by great complex ceremonies in which all the constituents form a total historical narration, by means of which each member of the group acquires and strengthens his consciousness of cultural identity and participates actively in it. Nothing like it exists in the cities. Whatever is still known of tradition has lost its meaning. The narratives which do still exist are incomplete and distorted and are felt to be irrelevant. This, then, is the context in which what is called ‘popular’ painting was born. Victor Bol (in McGonagle, 1990)

Canvases made of a flour sacks, washed and stretched on a rudimentary frame

Six of these ‘spontaneous’ painters could be identified whose work was uneven and at first sight seemingly crude, bordering on ‘airport art’. However among them Tshibumba Kanda Matulu stands out because of the extent of his output and the consistency of his themes and style. In 1970, aged about 30, he was living in Kipushi, an almost completely African small town, some distance from Lubumbashi, close to the Zambian border. He had previously intended to become a teacher, but his studies had been interrupted in his first year. This was the time of the Katangan secession and the outbreak of violence which followed it.

Around 1970, individuals appeared in the markets offering to their fellow citizens paintings on various themes to hang on the walls of their houses (perhaps following the example of Europeans). There were landscapes, village hunting scenes, portraits based on passport photographs, recollections of more or less recent events. These ‘spontaneous’ painters, who had received no formal academic training, with neither pretentions to being any different from the craftsmen among whom they lived in the same precarious material conditions nor any feeling of cultural superiority, pursued their activity just like their neighbours, the shoe-mender, tailor, electrician and so on. Like them, they were attempting to respond to the wishes of their customers. Their studios were nothing more than the livingrooms of their cramped houses. In the home or in the market they received the opinions and comments of their clients. They worked with whatever materials were available; this might be a canvas made of a flour sack, washed and stretched on a rudimentary frame, and industrial paint, the only kind available. And their brushes were not ‘real bristle’ brushes.

From this disappointed ambition Tshibumba retained a lively intellectual curiosity, and an undying wish to find out about both ancient traditions and also more recent events. Sold in market places at the rate of five a week for nearly ten years, his paintings must number several thousands. However his output contains frequent duplication of the same subject, merely with variations in detail. In fact the notion of a unique work of art is not current in Africa, and in order to respond in the best possible way to his clients’ interests, Tshibumba kept a list of intended subjects. With the exception of paintings of Mami Wata, all his themes were historical, and systematically explored the oppression of the country since the first contacts with Europe in the 16th century, as it has lived in the collective memory of the people. We must not forget that this is a civilisation based on an oral tradition. Everything is transmitted from generation to generation by word of mouth, and that includes embellishments, adaptations and interpretations of past events in the light of the

current situation. Thus the paintings are memorials, issuing from narrative and giving rise to narrative, each picture bearing a description of what it represents. The most popular are connected with the most traumatic memories: enslavement by the Arabs (this was already regarded as oppression in colonial times), the fight for independence and the secessionist war in Katanga – all these were favourite subjects. Tshibumba organised these themes according to two narrative modes. The first consisted of groupings under one general heading (e.g. ‘Belgian colony’), which would be the description of practices or typical occurrences of the period. This can be defined as a series. On the other hand, there were sequences or episodes on canvas tracing an historical event, with a beginning and an end, like a spoken narration. The characteristic feature of these episodes is that they all use a ‘foundation narrative’ to interpret an actual event. For instance, those devoted to Lumumba are related to the Passion of Christ, the foundation narrative of the Christian faith. This can be observed in the picture ‘The historical death of Lumumba’ with the wound in his side, the crosses of Golgotha, the darkening of the sun, and the divine eye piercing the mist, and so on. Other parts of the sequence are in the same manner: Meeting with Nkrumah, precursor of pan-Africanism, ‘African Calvary’, ‘Tomb without coffin’ (like the empty sepulchre). All of these, both the series and sequences, express the violence, evoke the humiliations visited on the African by the colonisers and bear witness to the profound aspiration of the people that their dignity be recognised as their hopes have been raised since the institution of the Second Republic under Mobutu. This does not prevent the artist from casting a lucid critical glance on the insufficiencies of the day. The economy of the country is in danger; the demands of the students have been suppressed; the management of private companies transferred to Africans by Zairification is disastrous - businessmen are squandering their assets on prestige projects while the prudent Europeans are prospering. The violence of themes is strikingly expressed by the pictorial style, almost always using close-up technique, whether it be persons, buildings, machines, or

the black slag heaps of mine tailings. It brings to mind a press photograph of a person, with no true depth of field. But Tshibumba has turned it into an original stylistic feature. The important thing is the relationship of figures and objects. It is this which focusses the eye on the important element of the message. This is in no way descriptive painting but narrative. The same is true of the middle ground and background spaces. There is an approximate perspective, with no real convergence of vanishing lines which merely suggest depth although they are the focus of a network of significant details which define the meaning of the action in close-up: uniforms, flags, silhouettes of peasants in rags. In closeup, poses, gestures and certain objects take on considerable significance. Ultimately a stereotype authority is always expressed by rigidity, figures in motion make violent gestures with an extreme expressiveness like the savage parachutists with harshly shaped silhouettes or Lumumba delivering the Independence speech. The oeuvre of Tshibumba seems to convey a many faceted yet homogenous message. It is an impassioned demand for recognition of the dignity of the African man who has too long been humiliated and oppressed. At the same time, it is a no less impassioned affirmation of the unity of the country, transcending regional and tribal differences; an exhortation to his fellow-citizens to grasp their destiny, despite momentary difficulties and the possibility of injustice. In all, it is a disturbing investigation of a new social identity. Tshibumba’s work ceased in 1982-3. The economic crisis and the impoverishment of the people who comprised his clientele meant that he could no longer live from the sale of his canvases. Efforts to trace his whereabouts have been in vain. Did he return to his village, as some have said? Or has he moved to Zambia, as others have suggested? No one knows.

Thanks

Artists index

Dr Johannes Fabian Dr Charles Gore

1 Tshibumba Kanda Matulu (Lubumbashi, Zaire\Democratic Republic of Congo, 1947– c.1982).

Liz Lydiate

2 Louis Kalema (Lubumbashi, Zaire\Democratic Republic of Congo)

Amal Medani

3 Ndaie (Lubumbashi, Zaire\Democratic Republic of Congo)

Nadia Mensah-Acogny

4 B. Ilunga (Lubumbashi, Zaire\Democratic Republic of Congo)

Bimpe N’kontchou

5 C. Mutombo (Lubumbashi, Zaire\Democratic Republic of Congo)

Stacey Okparavero

Note: Due to the lack of knowledge on Popular Painting from 1970s’ Lubumbashi, no biographical information is available except for Tshibumba Kanda Matulu.

Yovanka Paquete Perdigao Chris Spring

Index of works 1 | ‘Colonie Belge 1885–1959‘, Tshibumba Kanda Matulu, acrylic on canvas, 40x55cm. 2 | ‘Colonie Belge II Culture Obligatoire’, Tshibumba Kanda Matulu, acrylic on canvas, 40x68cm. Exhibitions: A new Necessity, UK, 1990; National Garden Festival, UK, 1990. Bibliography: Brett, 1986: p.90; Cornet et al, 1989: p.208; Vogel & Ebong, 1991: p.136. 3 | ‘Congo Belge II’, Kalema, acrylic on canvas, 52.5x69cm. 4 | ‘Congo Belge’, Kalema, acrylic on canvas, 51x67cm. Bibliography: Brett, 1986: p.87; Vogel & Ebong, 1991: p.136. 5 | ‘Prison du T. Kamina, 1940 1895’. Mutombo, acrylic on canvas, 48.5x92.5cm. 6 | ‘Colonie Belge 1941, Gouverneur Marron dans Martyrs de l’U.M.H.K à Lubumbashi’, Tshibumba Kanda Matulu, acrylic on canvas, 45.5x73.5cm. Bibliography: Cornet et al, 1989: p.223. 7 | ‘La Mort de Bodson tué par M’siri’, Tshibumba Kanda Matulu, acrylic on canvas, 72.5x46.5cm. Bibliography: Cornet et al, 1989: p.189. 8 | ‘Le Fils du Chef Katanga tué par M’siri l’Ami de son Père’, Tshibumba Kanda Matulu, acrylic on canvas, 40.5x61cm. Bibliography: Cornet et al, 1989: p.206. 9 | ‘La Tête historique de M’siri, Msiri fut coupé la Tête’, Tshibumba Kanda Matulu, acrylic on canvas, 47.5x73cm. Bibliography: Cornet et al, 1989: p.190. 10 | ‘La Victoire de la Force publique sur les Envahisseurs italiens du Kenya 1940–45’. Tshibumba Kanda Matulu, acrylic on canvas, 39x61cm. Bibliography: Cornet et al, 1989: p.223. 11 | ‘(Simon) Kimbangu’, Tshibumba Kanda Matulu, acrylic on canvas, 40.5x77.5cm. Exhibitions: A new Necessity, UK, 1990; Kongo Kingdom Art, China, Taiwan, 2003-2005; Les Temps forts de la Peinture congolaise, Belgium, 2007. Bibliography: Cornet et al, 1989: p.224. 12 | ‘Les Mercenaires de Bukavu’, Tshibumba Kanda Matulu,

acrylic on canvas, 61x45cm. Exhibition : A new Necessity, 1990. Bibliography: Cornet et al, 1989: p.28. 13 | ‘Attaque de l’Union Miniere’, Tshibumba Kanda Matulu, acrylic on canvas, 40x64.5cm. Exhibitions: A new Necessity, UK, 1990; National Garden Festival, UK, 1990. 14 | ‘ GecaMines II’, Kalema, acrylic on canvas, 47x69cm. 15 | ‘L’usine de GecaMine, l’SHI’, Mutombo, acrylic on canvas, 50x89cm. 16 | ‘Attaque de la Mine’, Ilunga, acrylic on canvas, 44x68.5cm. 17 | ‘O.N.U contre Katangais, 1960’, Ndaie, acrylic on canvas, 50x74cm. 18 | ‘Le Monstre de la Cessession Katangaise’, Tshibumba Kanda Matulu, acrylic on canvas, 41.5x54.5cm. Bibliography: Cornet et al, 1989: p.227. 19 | ‘Les Réfugiés de 1960–63 à Lubumbashi’, Tshibumba Kanda Matulu, acrylic on canvas, 45x60.5cm. 20 | ‘Manifestation des Femmes katangaises’, Tshibumba Kanda Matulu, acrylic on canvas, 45.5x73cm. 21 | ‘Kananga de 1960–65’, Tshibumba Kanda Matulu, acrylic on canvas, 40x64cm. 22 | ‘A-Jadotville, le Trouble, les Balubakat et le Kat’, Tshibumba Kanda Matulu, acrylic on canvas, 52.5x41cm. Bibliography: Cornet et al, 1989: p.228. 23 | ‘Chez Kasongo Nyembo’, Tshibumba Kanda Matulu, acrylic on canvas, 47x72cm. Exhibitions: A new Necessity, UK, 1990; National Garden Festival, UK, 1990. 24 | ‘Débarquement des Soldats de la Force publique en 1960’, Tshibumba Kanda Matulu, acrylic on canvas, 39.5x52cm. Exhibitions : A new Necessity, UK, 1990; National Garden Festival, UK, 1990. 25 | ‘Attaque de train II’, Kalema, acrylic on canvas, 49x68cm. 26 | ‘Attaque de train III’, Kalema, acrylic on canvas, 45x64.5cm. 27 | ‘Attaque de train’, Mutombo, acrylic on canvas, 47x78.5cm. 74

28 | ‘Les Baluba du Kabondo Diamda, 1960 à 65’, Ndaie, acrylic on canvas, 52.5x66.5cm. 29 ‘Attaque de train’, Ilunga, acrylic on canvas, 45x63cm. 30 | ‘Le 30 juin 1960, Zaïre indépendant’, Tshibumba Kanda Matulu, acrylic on canvas, 46x63.5cm. Exhibitions: A Congo Chronicle: Patrice Lumumba in Urban Art, Touring exhibition, 1999-2006. Bibliography: Jewsiewicki, 1999: p.40. 31 | ‘Déclaration de l’Indépendance Du Congo’, Kalema, acrylic on canvas, 64x85cm. 32 | ‘Conflit Kasavubu – Lumumba’, Tshibumba Kanda Matulu, acrylic on canvas, 39.5x62.5cm. 33 | ‘Arrestation a Lodja’, Tshibumba Kanda Matulu, acrylic on canvas, 39.5x62.5cm. Exhibition: A Congo Chronicle: Patrice Lumumba in Urban Art, Touring exhibition, 19992006. Bibliography: Jewsiewicki, 1999: p.40. 34 | Untitled (‘Lumumba arrêté’), Kalema, acrylic on canvas, 53x62cm. 35 | ‘Calvaire d’Afrique’, Tshibumba Kanda Matulu, acrylic on canvas, 40.5x74.5cm. Exhibitions: A new Necessity, UK, 1990; National Garden Festival, UK, 1990. 36 | ‘Lumumba 1960’, Ndaie, acrylic on canvas, 47x64cm. Bibliography: Brett, 1986. 37 | ‘Début de la Carriere politique, Lumumba en Prison central de Buluo à Jadotville’, Tshibumba Kanda Matulu, acrylic on canvas, 41.5x69.5cm. Exhibitions: A new Necessity, UK, 1990; National Garden Festival, UK, 1990. Bibliography: Cornet et al, 1989: p.225. 38 | ‘La Mort historique de Lumumba, Mpolo et Okito’, Tshibumba Kanda Matulu, acrylic on canvas, 46x72.5cm. Exhibitions: A new Necessity, UK, 1990; National Garden Festival, UK, 1990. Bibliography: Cornet et al, 1989: p.209. 39 | ‘Tombeau sans Cercueil (quartier Luano Lubumbashi)’, Tshibumba Kanda Matulu, acrylic on canvas, 38x60cm. Bibliography: Cornet et al, 1989: p.226.

40 | ‘Discours du 4 janvier 1959, Les Martyrs de l’Indépendance‘, Tshibumba Kanda Matulu, acrylic on canvas, 38.5x72.5cm. 41 | ‘Salongo Alinga Mosala’, Tshibumba Kanda Matulu, acrylic on canvas, 42x76cm 42 | ‘Discours le plus aplaudi de l’ONU’, Tshibumba Kanda Matulu, acrylic on canvas, 42x75.5cm. Exhibitions: A new Necessity, UK, 1990; National Garden Festival, UK, 1990. 43 | ‘Manifestation des Etudiants à Kinshasa’, Tshibumba Kanda Matulu, acrylic on canvas, 40x61cm. Exhibitions: A new Necessity, UK, 1990; National Garden Festival, UK, 1990. Bibliography: Cornet et al, 1989. 44 | ‘Manifestation des Etudiants à Lubumbashi’, Tshibumba Kanda Matulu, acrylic on canvas, 39.5x62cm. Exhibitions: A new Necessity, UK, 1990; National Garden Festival, UK, 1990. 45 | ‘Une Fois dans l’Histoire du Zaïre (Martyrs de l’Economie)’, Tshibumba Kanda Matulu, acrylic on canvas, 37x64cm. 46 | ‘Débâcle des Acquéreurs’, Tshibumba Kanda Matulu, acrylic on canvas, 38x57cm. Exhibitions: A new Necessity, UK, 1990; National Garden Festival, UK, 1990. 47 | ‘La Marche d’Esclaves II’, Tshibumba Kanda Matulu, acrylic on canvas, 40.5x47.5cm. 48 | ‘La Marche d’Esclaves’, Tshibumba Kanda Matulu, acrylic on canvas, 48.5x73cm. Exhibitions: A new Necessity, UK, 1990; National Garden Festival, UK, 1990. Bibliography: Cornet et al, 1989: p.188. 49 | Untitled, Kalema, acrylic on canvas, 49x61cm. Bibliography: Cornet et al, 1989: p.187, Brett, 1986: p.87. 50 | Untitled, Kalema, acrylic on canvas, 47x65.5cm. 51 | Untitled, Kalema, acrylic on canvas, 49x65.5cm. 52 | Untitled (Retour de Chasse), Kalema, acrylic on canvas, 59x45cm. 53 | Untitled (Retour de Chasse), Kalema, acrylic on canvas, 48.5x61.5cm.

Exhibitions

Bibliography

1 A New Necessity, First Tyne International Exhibition of Contemporary Art, Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK, 18th May-21st October 1990. Guest curator: Declan McGonagle. 2 A Congo Chronicle: Patrice Lumumba in Urban Art. Museum for African Art, New-York, Touring exhibition: 1999-2006 : New York, The Museum for African Art, 23.04-15.08.1999 ; Philadelphia, The Galleries at Moore, Moore College of Art and Design, Goldie Paley Gallery, 15.09-29.10.2000 ; Hanover, Hood Museum of Art, Darmouth College, 2000 ; Anvers, New International Cultural Center, 2001 ; Hampton, Hampton University Museum, 2001 ; New Hampshire, Clark Atlanta University Art Galleries, 2002 ; Madison, Drew University, The Korn Gallery ; Madison, Fairleigh Dickinson University’s College, 09.09-30.10.2005.) (Abis, Amisi, Banza Nkulu, Burozi, Chéri Benga, Dekab, Kalume, Laskas, Morgan, Mutanda wa Mutanda, Tinda Lwimba, Tshibumba.) 3 Kongo Kingdom Art: from ritual to cutting edge, China 2003-2004 (Guangdong, Shangai, Beijing), Taiwan 2004-2005 (Taipei, Tai- Chung). Guest curator: Marc Leo Felix. 4 Les Temps forts de la Peinture congolaise, Abattoirs de Mons, Belgium, 2007. Guest curator : Roger-Pierre Turine.

Bol, V. (1994) Une peinture dite «populaire». In: Vilain, A. (ed.) Papier blanc, encre noire. Approches des peintures d’Afrique centrale. Bruxelles : Cellule Fin de siècle, p. 21-34. Brett, G. (1986) Through our Own Eyes: Popular Art and Modern History. Philadelphia, PA, New Society Publishers. Busca, J. (2001). L’art contemporain africain, du colonialisme au post-colonialisme. Paris, Editions L’Harmattan. Césaire, A. (1966) A season in the Congo. Seuil, Paris. Cornet, J.-A., Cnodder, R. de, Dierickx, I. & Toebosch, W. (1989) 60 ans de peinture au Zaïre. Bruxelles, Les Editeurs d’Art Associés. Faber, P. & Fabian, J. (2005) The Dramatic History of the Congo as Painted by Tshibumba Kanda Matulu. Amsterdam. KIT Publishers. Fabian, J. (1997). Remembering the Present: Paintings and popular history in Zaïre. Berkeley, University of California Press. Fabian, J. (1998) The history of Zaïre as told and painted by Tshibumba Kanda Matulu in conversation with Johannes Fabian. Introduction. Archives of Popular Swahili, 2 (1). Available from: http://www.lpca.socsci.uva.nl/aps/tshibumba intro.html#Introduction. Fabian, J. (2003) Forgetful Remembering: a colonial life in the Congo. Journal of the International African Institute, 73 (4), 489-504. Hiller, S. (unknown date) J’accuse – Through Our Own Eyes: Popular Art and Modern History. Book review. Unknown newspaper. p.62. Jewsiewicki, B. (1999) A Congo chronicle: Patrice Lumumba in urban art. New York, NY, Museum for African Art. McGonagle, D., McEvilley, T., Herbert, S. & Bird, J. 1990. A New Necessity. First Tyne International Exhibition of Contemporary Art. Tyne International, Newcastle upon Tyne. Moyer, E. (2004) Congo in Cartoons, 102 paintings by Tshibumba. African Arts, 37 (4), 81-82. Vogel, S. & Ebong, I. (1991) Africa Explores: 20th Century African Art Exhibition. Museum for African Art.

EXHIBITION: SULGER-BUEL LOVELL LONDON Tel +44 203 268 2101 Address: The Loft, unit 2 La Gare, 51 Surrey Row, London SE1 0BZ Christian Sulger-Buel Director Mobile +44 777 578 2955 christian@sulger-buel-lovell.com Tamzin Lovell Miller Director Mobile +27 79 176 4292 tamzin@sulger-buel-lovell.com OPENING HOURS DURING EXHIBITIONS Tuesday–Friday 12h00–18h00 Saturday 15h00–18h00 Outside of exhibition times, by appointment Salimata Diop Head of Programme The Africa Centre 020 7836 1973 salimata@africacentre.org.uk

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