African Studies Seminar: Congolese Independence, Shared Memories

This lecture will explore the legacy of Patrice Lumumba, the first democratically elected Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of Congo who was assassinated in 1961, through the Congolese artist Georges Senga’s series of photographic diptychs, Une vie après la mort (2012). For the series, Senga collaborated with Kayembe Kilobo, an elderly schoolteacher in Lubumbashi whose clothing, lifestyle and opinions had been self-consciously styled on Lumumba since the 1950s. In the photographs, the artist re-staged scenes of the young Lumumba from archival images and documents situated on the left-side of the diptych through the elderly schoolteacher. I argue that Une vie après la mort complicates the story of forgetting around Lumumba constructed within Belgium, the official rhetoric of Mobutu-era Congo, and by scholars in the 1990s. I juxtapose colonial and postcolonial authoritative accounts with popular on the ground experience, and, in doing so, I align Senga’s series with urban art forms in Congo. By foregrounding visual and material culture, this paper challenges the way in which independence movements are chronicled through singular heroes. Senga’s Une vie après la mort turns our attention to the people who lived in hope of the liberated state.

All welcome. Please note that there may be photography and/or audio recording at some events and that admission is on a first come first served basis. Please follow this FAQ link for more information. All our events are free but you can support the IAS here.

This seminar series is convened by the African Studies Research Centre/IAS:

• Dr. Hélène Neveu Kringelbach (h.neveu@ucl.ac.uk)
• Prof. Megan Vaughan (megan.vaughan@ucl.ac.uk)
• Dr. Keren Weitzberg (k.weitzberg@ucl.ac.uk)

View the full Autumn seminar programme. 

Image: Georges Senga, Une vie après la mort, 2012