Sammy Baloji
The visual artist and photographer Sammy Baloji was born in 1978 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Since 2005, he has been exploring the memory and history of his country. His work is an ongoing investigation into the cultural, architectural, and industrial heritage of the Katanga region, as well as a critical examination of the impact of Belgian colonization. His sharp perspective on contemporary societies serves as a warning about how cultural stereotypes continue to shape collective memories, thereby allowing social and political power dynamics to keep dictating human behavior. Through his work, he juxtaposes photographic realities—combining past and present, the real and the ideal—to create striking cultural and historical tensions. Baloji has exhibited at the Venice Biennale (2015), Documenta 14 (2017), the Centre Pompidou, and the Grand Palais in Paris (2020). He lives and works between Lubumbashi and Brussels.
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The Tree of Authenticity
Duration: 2h58
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In the heart of a Congolese equatorial forest, the remnants of a research center dedicated to tropical agriculture reveal the weight of the colonial past and its inextricable ties to climate change. This three-part essay offers a powerful analysis of Belgium’s colonial history and its enduring consequences today.
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Immersing itself in the daily life of one of the great orchestras of the current generation, this film proposes an incursion into the arcanes of a monumental genre of African music. Ya Mayi, Lumumba, Xéna La Guerrière, Pitchou Travolta, Alfred Solo, Soleil Patron and many others: nearly thirty artists feed the creative life of the Brigade Sarbati Orchestra. By entering the group and the city of...
The Tree of Authenticity
Duration: 2h58
Subscription access
In the heart of a Congolese equatorial forest, the remnants of a research center dedicated to tropical agriculture reveal the weight of the colonial past and its inextricable ties to climate change. This three-part essay offers a powerful analysis of Belgium’s colonial history and its enduring consequences today.
Rumba Rules, New Genealogies
Immersing itself in the daily life of one of the great orchestras of the current generation, this film proposes an incursion into the arcanes of a monumental genre of African music. Ya Mayi, Lumumba, Xéna La Guerrière, Pitchou Travolta, Alfred Solo, Soleil Patron and many others: nearly thirty artists feed the creative life of the Brigade Sarbati Orchestra. By entering the group and the city of...
