On Kinshasa\u2019s streets \u2013 third biggest city of the continent, artists raise awareness among citizens about the challenges the Congolese capital city is facing. In an increasingly degraded environment, these artists question the profusion of consumption goods and rubbish, recycle them into costumes. Gathered in a collective, they perform in the street, condemning societal issues: lack to healthcare, pollution, deforestation and overconsumption. By mixing urban culture and symbolic rituals, they initiate a dialogue with the city\u2019s inhabitants. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The demographic explosion of this megalopolis coupled with its inhabitants increasing needs, a global economy and significant appetite for single-use plastic have led to massive import of consumption goods, generating an environmental havoc. The consequences in numbers are alarming: 13 million inhabitants generate a volume of 7 tonnes of waste each day. Poor neighbourhoods are the most hardly stricken and inequalities reinforced. Simple colonial small town with a population of 200,000 by the end of the fifties, the city has become the country\u2019s hub after its independence in the early sixties. Two wars and the permanent insecurity has led millions of people on the roads to Kinshasa. Beyond the urban centre, the capital city is an endless village lacking any kind of infrastructure. The Congolese state is incapable to tackle basic challenges like roads, sewage and electricity. In these areas, these artists re-embody their city by creating contemporary myths. As for traditional masks, they are archetypes of the main environmental challenges, questioning our modernity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Born in 1981, Colin Delfosse<\/strong> grew up in Brussels where he is currently based. Graduated in journalism, he turned to documentary photography in 2006, co-founder of a collective then working with different agencies. As a freelance photographer, Delfosse keeps a strong focus on personal long-term projects in Central Africa. After his first assignment in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) covering the elections in 2006 he kept going back to DRC frequently, focusing on social and contemporary issues in the region. His work has been shown in different festivals in and published in newspapers and magazines such as The New York Times, Le Monde, L\u2019Internazionale and Jeune Afrique. Since 2015, Colin Delfosse also works as a photo editor for the Belgian investigative magazine M\u00e9dor (www.medor.coop) that he co founded.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" On Kinshasa\u2019s streets \u2013 third biggest city of the continent, artists raise awareness among citizens about the challenges the Congolese […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":459,"parent":572,"menu_order":11,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"templates\/opencall-wpis.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-732","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\t\n