On the occasion of a major exhibition of his work, from 1981 to the present day, at the Musée Maillol in Paris, the Congolese artist looks back at his personal journey, his conception of art, his creative methods and the messages he transmits through images and words.
Today, I think we're accepted. Back then, we were not known. By dint of speaking out and complaining, the world has listened to us. Now, all doors are open. The process began when we were able to talk about our work, with the help of those who understood that there were artists in Africa who were being ignored. There was Jean-François Bizot, whom I'd like to mention first. In 1982, he invited me to come to Paris and published me in Actuel. Then André Magnin, who allowed me to take part in the "Magiciens de la Terre" (Earth Magicians) exhibition in Paris in 1989, and Jean Pigozzi, who saw my paintings there for the first time. These three really worked to pull us out of the darkness we were in.
Not only that. I started exhibiting in supposedly appropriate venues: at the Centre Wallonie Bruxelles, the banquet hall at the French Embassy, the French Cultural Center in Lubumbashi. That's how it was, even if I didn't agree, because I thought exhibitions should be held in front of the people, the masses, and not in galleries, where the initiated go. When I displayed my paintings, it was in the street. I'd put the paintings out on the sidewalk in front of the studio, and there would always be people there to look and react. I'd go out and chat with them: This sharing gave me the courage to go on.
"Popular" is a word to be wary of, because it can be misunderstood. When I used it back then, it was in a well-defined sense: Presenting people with things they could relate to, rather than codifying their understanding. In art, there were all these artists I didn't understand myself, whose work I had to explain: What it meant, why, how etc. In popular art, in my sense of the word, everyone sees what it's all about. Popular doesn't mean easy, unreflected, or haphazard. I've never worked that way, but always in a considered way.
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