Given our very recent history of isolationism, as a human society, there seems to be an appreciation for cultural exchange more than ever. Considering even older histories of struggle, discrimination and constitutional battles, there is a deep necessity for the culture – at this moment – to experience a kind of upheaval. At the meeting point of dark histories and excitement for the future was Marc Bauer’s work (Résilience) at the second Congo Biennale.
“[Painting] and drawing are a way for me, and by extension for the viewer, to understand reality, in all its complexity – subjectively, politically, symbolically,” says Bauer about his work. “It also allows me to show how history, memory and changing power structures influence the present moment.”
For Résilience, Marc Bauer took a deep dive into the politics, history and memories of the LGBTQI+ community of the DRC. He did this by taking a research trip earlier this year to the bustling capital city of Kinshasa in March of this year. Over his trip, he visited Kin ArtStudio, which would be hosting the works of international artists for the Biennale. It would later be on one of the large walls of Kin ArtStudio that Bauer would produce the large-scale, text-based drawing that is Résilience.
During the research trip, he also met with the exhibition curator, Vitshois Mwilambwe. The nature of Bauer’s practice is one which is led by such encounters, with other people. With a common motif in the work being a prodding into the concept of memory, which is so inherently subjective, it is no surprise that his practice is so collaboration based. Further, it’s no surprise that the final product of Résilience was a collaboration between Bauer and LGBTQI+ activist and founder of the association Jeunialissime, Scaly Kep’na.
During the period of March to September, Marc Bauer would collect interview responses from the queer youth. The process illuminated the development of these young people in the face of a state that generally considers homosexuality immoral and where the LGBTQI+ community experiences discrimination and hostility, commonly stigmatised by the wider public and officials. The title, translating to “resilience”, is a testament to the quality of the youth’s character. The large wall reflects the interviewing process and shows the differing narratives of the interviewees. Over that, there is a blue text which reads as a poem, but also a promise of triumph. The English translation reads:
There are no benevolent ancestors for us, there is nothing.
We do not have their testimony,
We do not know their lives,
We will never know, They have been erased. They forced themselves to be other,
To be like you,
That’s what you demand of us.
For us, the story begins now. We are writing it.
And so, in loud, uppercase, charcoal and smudged letters, the resilience begins. Authored by many, and represented in this installation, the LGBTI+ queer youth are writing themselves into a new history. Hopefully, a brighter one, marked by the merging of the various colours in the cultural melting pot that is Congo Biennale. The event, under the curation of Armelle Dakouo and Fahamu Pecou, was under the theme Le Souffle des Ancêtres (The Breath of The Ancestors). To see this challenging piece is like a sharp, but refreshing breath of fresh air.
Resilience and its creation of it were supported by Pro Helvetia Johannesburg.
This story is produced in the context of an editorial residency supported by Pro Helvetia Johannesburg, the Swiss Arts Council.
