53 Echoes of Zaire: 1970s DCR in paitings

The Africa Centre and the Sulger-Buel Lovell Gallery in London presented the 53 Echoes of Zaire exhibition, a collection of paintings by the late Congolese artists T. Kalema, C. Mutombo, B. Ilunga, Ndaie, and Tshibumba Kanda Matulu, the featured artist in the show.

All of the works were created in the late 1970s, less than a decade after Zaire, now known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo, gained its independence from Belgium.

Also included in the exhibition are contemporary documentation and original photography that focus on the life and works of Matulu, a historian and educator who is also credited with leading an artistic movement in the Congo in the early days of independence.

According to the gallery’s press release, the movement’s aesthetic was geared toward the recognition of “ancestral origins, colonial history, the fight for independence, [and] post-colonial struggles for power.” It was intended specifically for local people.

The styles and sensibilities of the different artists featured speaks to the myriad ways the colonization of Zaire was interpreted by the artists who grew up with one foot rooted in imperial rule, and one in sovereignty.