Still Kongo I-V

Comprising five large black and white prints presented in specially designed frames of Afzelia wood, Still Kongo is a work that considers the connections between extraction, territorial appropriation and Belgian Art Nouveau. Each of the original photographs (dating from 1958-1959) represents an ærial view of dense forest area in Yangambi and were selected from a collection of photographs that document 5000 km2 of tropical rainforest in the Congo. These images were sourced from the archives of The Royal Museum for Central Africa (RMCA) in Tervuren. They evidence the central role that ærial photography played in the colonial project, for surveying and mapping territories. In addition, they index the extreme ecological damage done by logging and resource extraction in Yangambi.

The wooden frames encasing the photographs utilize æsthetic forms from Belgian Art Nouveau. Through the combination of photograph and frame, Still Kongo illuminates how Belgian Art Nouveau was underpinned materially, economically and æsthetically by resources and forms taken from the Congo.

Furthermore, the frames have been reworked and reinscribed, using patterns referring to artefacts exhibited in the 1975 exhibition Art from Zaire, 100 masterworks from the National Collection, which travelled through several states in North America. This national collection was built up by Mobutu Sese Seko as part of his recours à l'authenticité discourse.