Kongo Atlantic Dialogues: Kongo Culture in Central Africa and in the Americas

The 2014 Gwendolen M. Carter Conference, organized by the University of Florida’s Center for African Studies and hosted by the Samuel P. Harn Museum of Art on February 21–22, was an unprecedented opportunity for international scholars from diverse disciplines to explore the Kongo Kingdom, its legacy, and its role in the diaspora. This two day conference comprised five panels—a total sixteen papers—that focused on three themes: “Kongo in Africa,” “Kongo across the Waters,” and “Kongo in the Contemporary Age.” Additional events included presentations by two leading historians of Central Africa and its diasporas: Bogumil Jewsiewicki’s preconference lecture and a keynote address by Linda Heywood. The final event, a contemporary artist roundtable (Fig. 1), brought together accomplished artists who represent the Kongo’s global influence, from the kingdom’s heartland in Central Africa, to Haiti, Cuba, and North America. The Kongo Atlantic Dialogues conference was planned in conjunction with the Samuel P. Harn Museum of Art’s exhibition and publication “Kongo across the Waters” (Figs. 2), co-organized with the Royal Museum for Central Africa in Tervuren, Belgium. The exhibition explores the Kongo Kingdom’s history through its visual expressions, and it traces how Kongo culture has contributed to the formation of African American cultures through the trans-Atlantic slave trade. “Kongo across the Waters” considers these themes in five sections defined chronologically and geographically, each of which emphasizes historical specificity and artistic innovations. Kongo and Kongo-descendant cultures on both sides of the Atlantic (Fig. 3) produced remarkable works of art whose impact continues into the present, as demonstrated by the exhibition’s final section, which presents the work of contemporary artists from Africa, the Caribbean, and the United States who have drawn on Kongo art and aesthetics (Fig. 4). (continued on p. 4) “Kongo across the Waters” was inspired by a milestone in the history of African presence in North America. Five hundred years ago, the Spanish conquistador Juan Ponce de Leon arrived on the coast of La Florida, with two free African men among his crew. Thus, the first Europeans and the first Africans arrived in North America simultaneously, a fact of great historical and symbolic significance. “Kongo Atlantic Dialogues” opened with a preconference lecture by historian—and, in practice, art historian—Bogumil Jewsiewicki. The presentation focused on contemporary Congolese artist Freddy Tsimba. Through Tsimba, Jewsiewicki addressed expansive thematic questions that were woven throughout the conference proceedings. How does the history of artistic expression in the Kongo Kingdom affect the region’s arts today? How do contemporary Congolese and Angolan people reconcile their colonial past? Tsimba’s work addresses these layers of history, as well as his preoccupation with human suffering, his Protestant background, and life in contemporary Kinshasa. Trained in fine art, Tsimba aspires to use his work to change lives; he draws on materials that signify the challenges of daily life as a means of reaching local audiences. For example, Tsimba’s sculptures made from discarded bullet casings recall the role of nkisi as memory keepers, in this instance recording memories of recent conflicts in the DRC. Jewsiewicki also addressed public reactions to Tsimba’s Machete House (2012), a structure made of machetes soldered together and topped with a thatched roof, constructed in a Kinshasa neighborhood. This work opens onto a larger discussion of creativity, violence, and art’s capacity to elicit recollections of the past. The first of two panels on the theme “Kongo in Africa” addressed a long history beginning with the Kongo Kingdom’s origins and continuing into the colonial era, tracing the region’s shifting political structures. Archaeologist Pierre de Maret and linguist Koen Bostoen began with a joint presentation of findings from the KongoKing research group. Their research calls for a reconsideration of the origins of the Kongo Kingdom. While many scholars have dismissed the notion that the kingdom originated in its eastern region, De Maret’s archaeological findings in the Lower Congo Province of the DRC, and Bostoen’s work on Kikongo languages as a reflection of sixteenth and seventeenth century population dynamics bring scholarly attention back to this hypothesis. Moving to the height of the kingdom’s power and influence, art historian Cecile Fromont showed how clothing and other personal adornment resulted from interactions between Kongo and European peoples. She addressed the ensembles worn by Kongo diplomats abroad and a chief ’s mpu cap that incorporated the insignia of the Catholic Order of the Cross. These two examples combine Kongo and foreign items to create powerful visual representations of status. Together, these papers emphasized the Kongo Kingdom’s complex organization, shifting power structures, and adaptability to new forces and new forms. The second “Kongo in Africa” panel addressed the later history of the Kongo King1 (from left) Donald Cosentino leads the artist roundtable with Edouard DuvalCarrie, Jose Bedia, Renee Stout, Radcliffe Bailey, and Steve Bandoma.