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30 Jan – 9 Feb 2025

Sammy Baloji

Sammy BALOJI (1978, DR Congo) lives and works between Lubumbashi and Brussels. Since 2005, he has been exploring the memory and history of the Democratic Republic of Congo. After his studies in literature and human sciences, he began to work as a cartoonist and later specialised in video art and photography. In 2008, he co-founded the biennale at Lumbashi with Gulda el Magambo bin Ali. His work is an ongoing investigation into the cultural, architectural and industrial heritage of the Katanga region, as well as questioning the impact of Belgian colonisation. His use of archives allows him to manipulate time and space, juxtaposing old colonial narratives with contemporary economic imperialism. His video works, installations and photographic series highlight the ways in which identities are shaped, transformed, perverted and reinvented. His critical view of contemporary societies serves as a warning against the ways in which cultural clichés continue to shape collective memory, allowing social and political power games to continue to dictate human behaviour.

Filmography

Pungulume (2016, short), Rumba Rules, nouvelles généalogies/Rumba Rules, New Genealogies (co-dir. 2020, doc), L’arbre de l’authenticité/The Tree of Authenticity (2025)

Sammy Baloji at IFFR