Kongo - Redux
EN_01631818_0005
The "Fresque de l'Afrique", sometimes called The People Speak to the People, is a work made in 1970 on commission from the Congolese state during the presidency of Marien Ngouabi, in Brazzaville, Congo Republic, August 3, 2024. It is a typical example of the socialist, proletarian and anti-colonial art in vogue at that time in the country. Composed of hundreds of hand-painted ceramic tiles, it represents the history of the Congolese people, from the pre-colonial period to the advent of scientific socialism in the 1960s. The art piece was made by four Congolese artists, Michel Hengo, Émile Mokoko, André Ombala and Jean Itoua, supervised by the Italian artist Dégo. The fresco was originally signed “The people speak to the people”, before its creators were allowed to add their signatures in the 1980s. Originally, the socialist arch was the entrance to a covered market. It was therefore closely linked to the daily life of the Congolese who, by crossing it, enjoyed the decor created by the painters, and therefore, implicitly, by the government, for their benefit. It was almost in spite of themselves that they enjoyed the pictorial spectacle offered, since they came to this place to sell or buy various everyday consumer products. In 1980, at the time of the oil boom, the market was demolished and replaced by a modern eleven-story building, thereby canceling the primary function of the work. A barrier now restricts passage under the arch, and a sculpture of an anthropomorphic bird, a gift from the Egyptian government, was installed in front of the mural in 2006. These elements that obstruct access have permanently changed the relationship between the work and its audience and have further blurred the initial communist message. An unknown person has written on the bird: Good is good. Amen. Congo, officially the Republic of the Congo or Congo Republic, also known as Congo-Brazzaville is a country located on the western coast of Central Africa.
Minimum price 100USD
2024-08-03
Didier Ruef/Redux/Redux Pictures/East News
Redux Pictures
Didier Ruef/Redux
16253884
4,45MB
51cm x 34cm by 300dpi
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