A bilingual chronicle of a sweeping artistic practice that relates history, memory and identity to the lived diasporic experience. Presented in French and English, this is the first monograph dedicated to Moridja Kitenge Banza (b. 1980), a Canadian visual artist of Congolese origin.
Known for dynamic works shaped by the places where he has lived and worked, Kitenge
Banza's art is a subversive blend of reality and fiction that questions and challenges discourses of power while opening new spaces for marginalized histories.
Chronicling a multidisciplinary practice that includes painting, photography, video, drawing, and
installation, this volume presents a comprehensive outline of Kitenge Banza's artistic practice. Texts by curators, historians, and theorists focus on the geopolitics, culture, religion, and iconography of the artist's lived context, accompanied by more than 100 artworks.
Whether confronting the impacts of resource extraction in his native Democratic Republic of Congo or in his adopted home of Québec, or recasting histories shaped by religion, violence, and colonialism, Kitenge Banza's work explores how his personal narrative is intertwined with the past. His reappropriation of the codes, customs, and conventions associated with religious,
cultural, political, social, and economic systems serve to underscore the contradictions that construct his identities.
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La chronique bilingue d'une vaste pratique artistique qui relie histoire, mémoire et identité à une expérience diasporique vécue. Présentée en français et en anglais, cette monographie est la première à être consacrée à Moridja Kitenge Banza (né en 1980), un artiste visuel canadien d'origine congolaise.
Connu pour ses oeuvres dynamiques façonnées par les lieux où il a vécu et travaillé, l'art de Kitenge Banza est un alliage subversif de réalité et de fiction qui met en cause et au défi les discours du pouvoir tout en ouvrant de nouveaux espaces pour les récits marginalisés.
Documentant une pratique multidisciplinaire qui inclut la peinture, la photographie, la vidéo, le dessin et l'installation, le présent ouvrage propose un portrait d'ensemble de la pratique artistique de Kitenge Banza. Il réunit des textes de commissaires, d'historien-ne-s et de spécialistes portant sur la géopolitique, la culture, la religion et l'iconographie issues du cadre de vie de l'artiste, et illustrés par plus de 100 oeuvres.
Confrontant les impacts de l'extraction de ressources, que ce soit dans la République démocratique du Congo où il est né ou au Québec, sa terre d'adoption, ou reconfigurant des récits façonnés par la religion, la violence et le colonialisme, Kitenge Banza explore dans son travail la manière dont son récit personnel est lié à son passé. Sa réappropriation des codes, des coutumes et des conventions associés à des systèmes religieux, culturels, politiques, sociaux et économiques sert à mettre en lumière les contradictions qui construisent ses identités.
Moridja Kitenge Banza is a Canadian artist of Congolese origin, born in Kinshasa in 1980 in the Democratic Republic of Congo. He is a graduate of the Academy of Fine Arts of Kinshasa, the École supérieure des beaux-arts de Nantes Métropole, and the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of La Rochelle.
In 2010, he received first prize at the DAK'ART Biennale of Contemporary African Art for his video
Hymn to Us and his installation
From 1848 to the Present Day. He received a Sobey Award in 2020. The Art Gallery of Ontario and the PHI Foundation have presented solo exhibitions of the artist. His work has been presented in Canada at the McMichael Canadian Art Collection, the Musée d'art de Joliette, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Projet Casa, the Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal and the National Gallery of Canada. Internationally, his work has shown at the Musée Dauphinois (France), the Museum of Contemporary Art (Denmark), the Arndt Gallery and the Ngbk (Germany), the Biennale Internationale de Casablanca (Morocco), the Fondation Attijariwafa bank (Morocco) and the Fondation Blachère (France), Projet Casa. The artist's works are included in the collections of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, the Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal, the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec, the National Gallery of Canada, the Art Gallery of Ontario, the City of Laval Collection, as well as in numerous corporate collections such as BMO, the Caisse de dépôt et de placement du Québec, Canadian Shield Capital, Hydro-Québec, the Mouvement Desjardins, RBC, and the TD Bank Corporate Art Collection.
Moridja Kitenge Banza is a Canadian artist of Congolese origin, born in Kinshasa in 1980 in the Democratic Republic of Congo. He is a graduate of the Academy of Fine Arts of Kinshasa, the École supérieure des beaux-arts de Nantes Métropole, and the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of La Rochelle.
In 2010, he received first prize at the DAK'ART Biennale of Contemporary African Art for his video
Hymn to Us and his installation
From 1848 to the Present Day. He received a Sobey Award in 2020. The Art Gallery of Ontario and the PHI Foundation have presented solo exhibitions of the artist. His work has been presented in Canada at the McMichael Canadian Art Collection, the Musée d'art de Joliette, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Projet Casa, the Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal and the National Gallery of Canada. Internationally, his work has shown at the Musée Dauphinois (France), the Museum of Contemporary Art (Denmark), the Arndt Gallery and the Ngbk (Germany), the Biennale Internationale de Casablanca (Morocco), the Fondation Attijariwafa bank (Morocco) and the Fondation Blachère (France), Projet Casa. The artist's works are included in the collections of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, the Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal, the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec, the National Gallery of Canada, the Art Gallery of Ontario, the City of Laval Collection, as well as in numerous corporate collections such as BMO, the Caisse de dépôt et de placement du Québec, Canadian Shield Capital, Hydro-Québec, the Mouvement Desjardins, RBC, and the TD Bank Corporate Art Collection.
