Reviving African art in the DRC

Credit: The Malabo Group

For those who ever had the privilege to set foot in Kinshasa, the sprawling and restless capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, few things illustrate the creativity of the people living there more than its arts. 

Long before Nigerian musicians would become the uncontested leaders of the continent music scene, their Congolese fellows had done so with style, and established Kinshasa as Africa’s original musical capital. 

While the musical greats of years past are remembered with fondness and melancholy, in other areas such as painting or photography, Kinshasa’s vibrant creatives look to the present and the future with confidence. With talent abounding, the MALABO gallery operated by the MALABO group in the heart of this busy city, offers a glimpse into a marvelous world. 

Painters and photographers put the energy and creativity of their fellow Kinois on display. Portraits by Wes Itshiri, majestic and colorful, seem to give a measure of the dreams crowding people’s minds in the city’s daily hustle and bustle. Mbela Mabueni’s portraits are both haunting, at times threatening, but mostly rough, as if to convey some of the harsh sides of daily life in a mega city. 

By bringing these artists’ work from the streets of Kinshasa to one of the rare galleries in town, MALABO group’s owners, a passionate yet discrete group of friends, aims to showcase a lesser known side of life in Kinshasa. 

Credit: The Malabo Group

For almost a decade, the Group has specialized in the Congolese art scene. In 2012, it started off with collaborations with late musical great Papa Wemba before shifting its focus two years later, on visual arts, particularly the many painters living and working in Kinshasa. Since then, MALABO has collaborated with various painters, photographers as well participated/organized a number of events/exhibitions in and out of Congo. 

In 2017, it initiated "Kongo Moko", an event that brought together artists from Congo Kinshasa and Congo- Brazzaville (Kongo Moko means One Congo). In December 2019, it opened its first gallery in Kinshasa, where the work of a growing list of artists are featured. 

Visiting the Group’s gallery or the website serves as a reminder of a fundamental truth: “Kinshasa is awash with artists in the largest sense of the word, raw, pure talent at every corner.”

Visit themalabogroup.com follow @themalabogroup. Images courtesy of the Malabo Group.

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