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Review: De Witte Raaf - Sammy Baloji.The Art Group is the market leader in contemporary art publishing.

This exhibition, initiated by Framer Framed, travels in 2020 on to Lunds Kosthall in Sweden and Aarhus Konsthall in Denmark. The opening program is also part of urban festival WeMakethe.City. Galerie Imane Farès, Ministerie voor Onderwijs, Cultuur & Wetenschap, Amsterdams Fonds voor de Kunst, Tolhuistuin. This exhibition was made possible with support by In this way the exhibition offers a critical reflection on the ways in which mineral extraction, combined with the influence of cultural structures, haved impacted contemporary life in Congo: the foundations of the metaphorical stage on which the present is taking shape. In A Blueprint for Toads and Snakes, Sammy Baloji presents a highly original commemoration of the painful history of exploitation and cultural formation in Congo. Both are now used as input for the works in Baloji’s solo exhibition.Ī Blueprint for Toads and Snakes at Framer Framed, installation view (c) Eva Broekema In addition, the aftermath of this colonial segregation resonates in Congo’s contemporary society, which is rife with struggles and ethnic tensions, intensified by economic interests. It is also reflected in the street names, which refer to different ethnic populations. Traces of this segregation are still visible today, for example in the shape of the ‘cordon sanitaire’ (sanitary corridor), a buffer zone inscribed in the landscape meant to effectively separate the black and white population. Baloji relates Kiwele’s theatre script to the colonial urban planning of the ‘indigenous city’ of Lubumbashi, which was also structured according to a politics of segregation. The play, which holds a metaphorical message of ethnic segregation, was commissioned by the Belgian colonial regime as an ‘educational tool’ for the population. Central to these new pieces is the theatre play Chura na Nyoka (‘The Toad and the Snake’), written by Joseph Kiwele, a Congolese born statesman who later served as minister in the Katanga Region.

The exhibition features several new works by Sammy Baloji. Through questioning their hierarchical imposition and constitutive nature, the artist critically addresses a past of Western colonialism, the subsequent post-colonial disillusionment, and the continuing imperial aftermath.

Based in the photographic medium, Baloji employs a research-based practice in which archival material, museological objects and cultural artefacts inform his work. The practice of Sammy Baloji deals with the cultural, social, architectural and industrial heritage of his home country the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The exhibition is curated by Vincent van Velsen and features scenography by Jean Christophe Lanquetin. Exhibition: A Blueprint for Toads and Snakes Framer Framed presents a solo exhibition by esteemed artist Sammy Baloji – A Blueprint for Toads and Snakes. Foto: (c) Eva Broekema / Framer Framed 25 Jun – A Blueprint for Toads and Snakes at Framer Framed, installation view.

Blueprint art