Traversées Project

Sammy Baloji

We must present an artist who participates in an art exhibition : Traversées, at Poitiers. We have chosen Sammy Baloji. We talk about his life and his artworks.

Biography :

Sammy Baloji was born in 1978 in Lubumbashi, in the Democratic Republic of Congo. He was awarded a diploma in arts and human and social science at the university of Lubumbashi. With a camera, he began photographing scenes as sources for his cartoons. He continued with photography and video at Ecole Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs(...), in Strasbourg, France.

His first artwork which gave him his reputation in the art world is the series “Mémoire”.

Today he lives and works in Lubumbashi and Brussels. Because of the exhibition “Mémoire” he can exhibit in many museums like CNAP (Centre National des Arts Plastique), musée du Quai Branly and also the Smithsonian Museum( Is the Natural History museum in the United States).

In 2007(two thousand and seven), he realised a photographic work in Mozambique in revisite the recently story of the city: Maputo.

In 2008 (two thousand and eight), he created the PICHA ( meaning “picture” in swahili) to show the local population different archives images about their story and present the work in visual arts of emerging contemporary African artists. The last edition has known a great popular success.

Sammy Baloji has acquired an international reputation with his photographic works that explore the cultural, architectural and industrial heritage of the region where he was born named Katanga in the African country Congo.

All of his juxtapositions are highly charged with meaning, but above all: always succeed in leaving an everlasting impression, that forces one to question past, present and future of Congo and the whole continent of Africa.

Process:

Sammy Baloji through his works evokes the lives of the people of Congo in colonial times. They lived in atrocious conditions, forced labour, mutilation (hands or feet cut off) for those who did'nt follow the rules, undernutrition…

Hundreds of thousands, maybe millions of Congolese died at that time. He talks about the people that died during the colonial time, the bloody exploitation of the Congo.

Gathering both historical documents, images of Congolese photographers, in black and white, and colour photographs. Baloji juxtaposes photographic realities, combining past and present, the real and the ideal, to explicit extraordinary cultural and historical tensions.These photomontages are both striking and disturbing, direct and silent. Sammy Baloji is looking at the history of his region, Katanga and wants to find the forgotten stories.

He views architecture and the human body as traces of social history and sites of memory.

Violette Artwork:

It is an assembly of photographs, made in 2016 and exhibited in Paris during the exhibition : “That is where, as you heard, the elephant danced the malinga. The place where they now grow flowers”.

The photos came from the archives of the collection of the Royal Museum of Central Africa in Tervuren.

This work perfectly represents the violence of colonization. There are busts and backs of Congolese, scarified because of the lashes they have received.

The purpose of the work is to remember this exploitation, to remember this suffering.

Armelle Artwork :

This Artwork is archival digital photograph on satin matte paper. It is a part of the first exhibition “Mémoire” by Sammy Baloji. This is the Untitled 12 of the exhibition. Sammy Baloji realised it in 2006. It makes 60 x 181 cm or 24” x 71 1/8”.

In the foreground of this photo we can see seven men. Each one wears a prisoner clothing and they are all enchained. They carry something on their heads. In the background it’s maybe a mine and also there are rails on both sides.

In this photomontage Sammy Baloji represents the colonial times by combining black and white images of past industry from Belgian colonial times with modern photos of the mining town Lubumbashi. Baloji tries to make us see the pain that the people felt during the colonial period.

I think Sammy Baloji shows very well the reality of difficulty to live in this country at the colonial moment in his photomontages.

Yseure Artwork :

This artwork will present the exhibition “Traversées” in Poitiers called “Tales of the Copper Cross Garden”. It’s an installation in the “Chapelle des Augustins”.

There are pots, with differents plants. Some are install on a platform. There are fern, ivy, grass, cactus, monstera. Pots are placed randomly in a white room. The pots are in yellow copper and the plants are all green.

It symbolizes the ecological disaster of Congo’s importation of plants and ore.

For me it can symbolize the diversity of people in the world but it can symbolize too a criticism of the current world : we live in the society but we live also every man for himself .

The plants are together but they are separate.

Camille Artwork :

This artwork by Sammy Baloji presents the reality of his country versus his dream. It was created in 2012 with the scope of the “Kolwezi” exhibition which looks deeper into the history of his country.

I love this artwork because with this, we see the reality without filter and yet, this artwork is a little childish so it leave a sad message and this is great because talks about the emotions which helps to leave a trace of something.