Toma Muteba Luntumbue: in Conversation with Z. S. Strother

Since 2008 a collective of artists in Lubumbashi has hosted four successful biennales of contemporary art as "Rencontres Picha" ("Encounters with Pictures"). Ever evolving, each exhibition has grappled with the troubled political and economic conditions of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Lubumbashi is the mining capital of the former Katanga province, a geopolitical hot spot notorious for its mineral wealth in copper, uranium, and now coltan.

Toma Muteba Luntumbue, born in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, is an artist, art historian, educator, and freelance curator based in Belgium and France. He served as artistic director for the Fourth Lubumbashi Biennale, Rencontres Picha (October 9 to November 8, 2015), building on experience curating exhibitions such as Exitcongomuseum, Royal Museum of Central Africa Tervuren (2000), and Transferts, Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels (2003). For the Lubumbashi Biennale, Luntumbue chose the theme of "meteoric realities," drawn from the work of Edouard Glissant. Most works were chosen in accordance with the theme through application or invitation; however, the curators also invited a number of artists from Brazil, Europe, and the DRC to interact with one another through workshops, film screenings, and performances (as explained in the accompanying review in this issue).

Although international in scope, Luntumbue acknowledged a responsibility to the people of Lubumbashi. Coincidentally, the scheduling of the biennale overlapped with Beauté Congo—1926–2015—Congo Kitoko, a well-publicized exhibition mounted by the Fondation Cartier pour l'art contemporain in Paris.

Who should define Congolese art? Toma Muteba Luntumbue spoke with Z. S. Strother in November 2015 of his goals for the biennale and his collaboration with his cocurator, Daniella Géo.

Toma Muteba Luntumbue, 2017. Photo: Bruno Oliveira

Toma Muteba Luntumbue:

When I arrived in [Lubumbashi in] August [2015], I saw a poster on the museum labeled "Lubumbashi Biennale," and it was going to take place at the same time as ours. I was surprised and asked why this sign was there. Sammy Baloji started laughing and told me that Sikasso Kazadi was doing it. Sikasso is a bit older than Sammy; he is one of the first Lubumbashi artists who went to France in the 1990s. He's a designer, a photographer—he is very dynamic. I immediately asked to meet him. We called him, and he came to meet us in a restaurant that night. He said they took the initiative of organizing a biennale because he had heard [rumors] that the Picha Biennale would not take place. He went on: "I must tell you, Monsieur Toma, that when [the Picha Art Center] does their biennale we feel excluded, because that biennale is geared toward foreign artists. You do it for Europeans and foreigners; our biennale is Congolese, and we value the artists from Lubumbashi." I answered: "This is very important, and I care about this issue. I am ready to invite you, as an artist, to our biennale. There should not be two competing biennales in the city at the same time." We had a very serious conversation, but he maintained that we were geared toward foreign artists, while they wanted to work with Lubumbashi artists, inclusively, whatever their mode of expression.

Z. S. Strother:

This is a fascinating story, because in 2005 the Ministry of Culture in Senegal invited and even pleaded with Yacouba Konaté to organize an "African biennale" for Dak'Art. Do you think in these terms? In 2015 do we need an African biennale? Even more specifically, do we need a Congolese biennale?

TML:

This is a complicated question, and we discussed it a lot among artists. There are two issues, in my opinion. There is a kind of artist who deems it very interesting for their own public image to be in the DRC, a country with a heavy geopolitical symbolism. Coming to Katanga looks good on a professional résumé. It is unexpected, and thus looks better than Sydney or Berlin, where everybody goes. Congolese and African artists are less savvy about communication. They participate in...