Kongo Astronauts expresses both the desire for a future and a cry—of artists suffocating in a tentacular megalopolis where survival depends on day-to-day action. KA was born from an intimate history and a need for public expression. Faced with this adversity, Kongo Astronauts responds with performative action. In order to produce something here, you need financial support in the form of private capital from various companies or international funding. This launch was an opportunity to mentor artists by inviting them to think about the impact of digital globalization.
That was our first public appearance. Michel made his first suit by recycling electronic circuit boards he bought at the e-waste market. He wore a plastic bucket on his head as a helmet equipped with a camera and microphone in the luxury garden where the event was held, so the camera was broadcasting live images on an old television set.
Ironically, it was a meeting of colonial history, the Mobutu regime and the future of Africa and its astronauts, around a swimming pool in a very posh neighborhood. We really started out at the heart of paradoxes.
Makery: How does one make art in these environments with no financial or other support? Michel Ekeba: In Kinshasa we live from day to day.
You need to know how to get by. In art, too, we have developed survival tactics. In the s, a certain number of individuals transformed the still very academic art landscape by stimulating new possibilities.
