[VIRTUAL UMAG] Colours of Congo: Patterns, Symbols and Narratives in 20th–Century Congolese Paintings

Colours of Congo complements the current UMAG exhibition of paintings created by Congolese artists spanning from the 1920s to 1960. The exhibition's narrative presents a generous overview of works instigated by a single artist from Belgium who began a painting workshop in collaboration with the indigenous population of Elisabethville (modern–day Lubumbashi). Over the decades, this first studio was followed by other workshops that assisted in developing a hybrid artform that remains a celebrated phenomenon today. The exhibition and accompanying volume of essays primarily examines this group of paintings as artworks worth considering on their own merits––describing their techniques and inherent beauty, while acknowledging that their iconographic contents reflect daily life within the various communities.