‘Debate: System "Kinshasa"’

Kinshasa has always been an epicentre for art. Nowadays it’s a thriving megacity with twelve million inhabitants where creativity, experimentation, new languages and forms are all taken to extremes, where point of reference are distorted and aesthetics are reinvented.
In the last fifteen years or so, a generation of young Kinshasan artists has come to the fore by distancing themselves from their forefathers’ style. They question the conventions taught at the Academy of Fine Arts or the dominance of Rumba and Ndombolo. “Creative freedom” is their trademark, free from social and intellectual norms, transforming Kinshasa into a gigantic artistic laboratory.
It is this alternative scene that the beautiful documentary Faire-Part, directed by Anne Reijniers, Nizar Saleh, Paul Shemisi and Rob Jacobs, strives to depict. This scene is also at the heart of Renaud Barret’s new film System K., which will be released in spring 2019. In it, the filmmaker portrays six figures from this new generation in context.
Following the screening of the works and interview extracts from key members of the scene, this discussion aims to highlight the vitality, harsh realities and dreams of these artists who don’t just create their own identity, but also that of their city.

With: Renaud Barret (director); JP Mika (artist); Vitshois Mwilambwe (artist; founder of KinArt Studio); Jolie Ngemi (choreographer); Rob Jacobs (director); Freddy Tsimba (artist), Rodriguez Vangama (musician) and KOKOKO!; 
Moderator: Véronique Rieffel (curator)