Baraza ya ba Kirata – Performative colloquium by Nontobeko Ntombela by Centre d’art Waza

Can we imagine a model of artistic production free from the extractivism that characterises commercial global exchanges? How can curatorial practices be rethought to integrate systematically both the needs of the local contexts and the discursive and aesthetic appetites of the art world? What collaborations and alliances are possible in such approach?

The region of Lubumbashi, where lumbung artists Centre d’art Waza operate, is heavily influenced by the mining industry that shapes its social life, history, and political tensions. The colonisation installed a capitalist and paternalistic system that considerably reduces the agency of local actors and their freedom to project themselves towards the future. Centre d’art Waza has been working with artistic and creative communities to develop new narratives that aim to re-imagine the meaning of labour and living together through meaningful and locally embedded cultural productions. The Kirata program, which is presented at documenta fifteen, is part of this approach.

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