Congo Stars (Supplement)

1 Barbara Steiner 2 Congo and Austria

Kurt Jungwirth 8 Interview with Alfred Liyolo

Günther Holler-Schuster, Barbara Steiner Conversations with Collectors 10 1 Werner Horvath 14 2 Peter Weihs 18 3 Armin Prinz

Armin Prinz 26 ‘Medizinmänner’ (Medicine Men)

Monika Holzer-Kernbichler 36 ‘Africa in Graz’ A conversation with Kamdem Mou Poh à Hom

44 Timeline Austria – Congo

52 Chéri Samba, Une médecine de brousse, Galerie & Edition Artelier Graz, 1996

56 Accompanying programme

58 Imprint

Work descriptions 17 Portrait Peter Weihs, painted by Moke 23 Armin Prinz as Doctor, painted by Sam Ilus 24 Armin Prinz Observing a Treatment Scene, painted by Landry Pengi 25 Armin Prinz Cycling, painted by Moke 30 On Werner Horvath’s Five Representations of Diseases 32 On Oswald Stimm’s Sculpture L’Africaine 33 Oswald Stimm with the ‘Pygmies’, painted by Moke 34 On Peter Weihs’ Sculptural Works 35 On Peter Weihs’ Bar Scenes Peter Weibel (ed.), Inklusion : Exklusion, exhibition Exhibition view, M_ARS – Art and War, Neue Galerie catalogue, steirischer herbst, Graz, DuMont, Cologne Graz, 11.01.–26.03.2003, with works by Tshibumba 1996 Kanda Matulu

Congo and Austria

An exhibition about Congolese art at the an exhibition of Neue Galerie Graz in coop- Kunsthaus Graz may seem unusual at first eration with ‘Graz 2003 – Cultural Capital of glance. Because non-European art, espe- Europe’. cially African art, is still rarely shown in the Several exhibitions took place, among oth- major art institutions. This is not the case ers in 2004 in the Künstlerhaus Graz (then in Graz: In 2013, the Kunsthaus Graz pre- still part of the Landesmuseum Joanneum) sented Romuald Hazoumè’s solo exhibition, and in 2015, in the Schaumbad Freies which was titled Beninese Solidarity with Atelier­haus Graz, in honour of Susanne Endangered Westerners and investigated Wenger, an artist born in Styria, who lived the following question: ‘What if conditions in Nigeria since 1950, became a Yoruba changed in such a way that the dynamics priestess there, founded the art school New of dependencies and power relations began Sacred Art and rebuilt the decaying shrines to reverse’? (Günther Holler-Schuster). The of the Holy Grove of the goddess Osun with Nigeria-born sculptor Samson Ogiamien local craftsmen and artists. These have exhibited at the Kunsthaus Graz in 2015 been part of the UNESCO World Cultural and devoted himself to the relationship Heritage since 2005. In 2004, Wenger between African tradition and European received the Grand Golden Decoration of reality. Congolese art was also repeatedly Honour of the State of Styria. on display in Graz: In 1996, works by Chéri Samba were presented in Inclusion : Exclu- Further important initiatives in Graz have sion – Art in the Age of Postcolonialism been and/or still are: the seven-year restau- and Global Migration, steirischer herbst. rant project Teranga, which started in 1999 In the same year, Samba worked on site on and was conceived by Joachim Baur and a silkscreen edition for Galerie & Artelier Werkstadt Graz together with Bambo Sane Graz, where he also had a solo exhibition. and Salam Barry. For this purpose, the gal- In 2003, works by Tshibumba Kanda Matulu lery space of the Werkstadt Graz was con- were shown as part of M_ARS – Art and War, verted into a restaurant for about 20 3 Restaurant Teranga, Sporgasse 16, 8010 Graz Café NIL (on the right founder Veronika Dreier), Drei- Fiston Mwanza Mujila, Tram 83, Zsolnay, Vienna 2016 hackengasse 42, today Lazarettgasse 5, 8020 Graz people. In addition, the activities of the the flag and alludes to the changing politi- Congo Stars shows popular painting created interests. Expeditions for discoveries, explo- Church of St. Andrä, initiated by the then cal systems and regimes—because not only between the 1960s and today, as well as ration and trade were classified as non- parish priest Hermann Glettler, the BAODO the name of today’s Democratic Republic of works in other media, some by Congolese political in retrospect, and even if violence art association, which runs the art space Congo, but also the national flags have been artists currently living in Paris, Brussels, was involved, their ‘cultural or civilising and café NIL, an intercultural communica- modified, depending on the state doctrine. Kinshasa and Lubumbashi. The book Tram mission’ was emphasised. One ignored one’s tion and cultural centre for encounters and But it also refers to popular culture, to 83, written by the Lubumbashi-born and own political or economic interests as well exchanges, and Chiala, an association that local and international stars and heroes, Graz-based author Fiston Mwanza Mujila, as the fact that a number of well-known actively promotes art and culture with a and beyond that to literally reaching to the served as a conceptual starting point for Austrian explorers had put themselves at focus on Africa and cultural work and organ- stars. Zaire, the state’s name between 1971 the exhibition. He began writing his novel in the service of the colonial powers. Moreover, ises the Chiala Africa Festival in Graz every and 1997, afforded itself an ambitious space Germany, where he had received a scholar- the view of the continent of Africa, which year. This incomplete list already shows programme. The many utopian-futuristic- ship funded by the Heinrich Böll Founda- was marked above all by popular travel that cooperation with ‘Africa’ is not limited looking representations of the artists also tion, and finished it in Graz, where he was descriptions, remained quite colonialist and to the territory of the Democratic Repub- ultimately speak of a longing for a social awarded the Peter Rosegger Prize in Novem- racist. lic of Congo alone; the individual African space that is positively occupied—both ber 2018. This already identifies one point, groups are in exchange with each other, but territorially and temporally in an ‘outside’ which is why this exhibition guide focuses Austria joined the United Nations in 1955. also with Austrians. space. Ultimately, ‘Congo’ is a projection on the sometimes surprising relations In order to promote neutral Austria and the screen, imagination, dysfunctional state and between Austria, specifically Styria too, and relocation of international organisations Congo Stars is part of this exhibition his- contested territory in equal measure. Congo; of course, in order to build in cross- to Vienna among those member states tory and local initiatives. Against this back- references to events that repeatedly chal- that were formerly colonies, the Republic ground, specific relations between Congo We curators of the exhibition were inter- lenge national borders. emphasised its colonial innocence and was and Austria are examined, but at the same ested in how political and social reality extremely cooperative with regard to UN time embedded in political, economic, social mixes with fiction in sometimes indisti- But now to Austria, which is no less a space agendas such as decolonisation, human and cultural relations that exceed national guishible ways. Against this background, for imagination, identification and projection rights, disarmament and compliance with attributions. Congo and Austria, the art on ‘Congo’ comprises a concentration of (re-) than Congo. Even though our timeline in the international law. This strategy soon proved display and the venue of the exhibition are presentations, interpretations, narratives exhibition goes back far into past centuries, successful: The International Atomic Energy linked to each other and to transnational and embellishments in which many people I would like to restrict myself here to the Agency (IAEA) settled in 1957 in Vienna, socio-political events. Congo Stars is there- are involved—researchers, artists, filmmak- period after 1945 and pick out a few points: followed by the United Nations Industrial fore not a ‘national exhibition’ of or even a ers, journalists, art collectors, travellers, After the Second World War, a narrative was Development Organization (UNIDO) in 1966. showcase for the Democratic Republic of etc.—which go far beyond the territorial specifically developed in Austria according In 1971, Kurt Waldheim finally became Sec- Congo. Yes, the title conjures up the star in borders of a state. to which the country never pursued colonial retary General of the United Nations, and 4 5 try of Education: a sculptor and a ceramist were to be sent to the Académie in Kinshasa to train local young people. The sculptor Oswald Stimm and the ceramist Peter Weihs accepted this offer. In return, the sculptor Makala Mbuta and the ceramist Magwaia Samba came to Austria on a scholarship, the idea being that they should replace the two European professors in Kinshasa after a period of two years. In the end, both Aus- trians remained in Kinshasa for many years: UNO City, Vienna 1979 Stimm from 1973 to 1982, Peter Weihs from Alfred Liyolo, L’Abstinance, 1985 1972 to 1991, both with shorter or longer breaks in between. in 1979 a third UN office was established in bas­­hi (Picha ASBL), Tervuren (Musée royale Vienna: UNO City. The connections and interdependencies are de L’Afrique central), Tübingen (Kunst­halle) therefore multifaceted and go far back in and Bayreuth (Iwalewahaus) as well as the At the end of the 1950s, there was a grow- time. For—as already mentioned above— design team of the exhibition (Rainer Stadl- ing need for know-how in the Afro-Asian not only important Congolese artists such bauer, Kay Bachmann, Michael Posch) and countries that had been granted independ- as Chéri Samba or Tshibumba Kanda Matulu this exhibition guide (Karin Buol-Wischenau)­ ence. These countries sent young people exhibited in Graz in the 1990s, but there are scientific, design and artistic expertise from abroad for training—among others, to also three important Austrian collections Belgium, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Austria.­ which—in addition to lenders from Brussels Germany and Austria. We would like to During the course of educational exchange, and Paris—made important selections avail- thank them, the lenders in France, Belgium a group of Congolese came to Styria to able to the exhibition Congo Stars. Here, and the German Federal Cultural Founda- study in 1963. Among them was Alfred our special thanks go to the Weltmuseum tion, the companies Drei, UNIQA, Zultner Liyolo, a young sculptor with a diploma from (Museum of Ethnology) Vienna, the Austrian Metall GmbH and Leicht Metallbau, for mak- Leopoldville. He and nineteen other young Ethnomedicine Society (Vienna), Armin Prinz ing this exhibition possible, which will be men aged around 20 spent the summer (Vienna), the Horvath Collection for Politi- also on view in a slightly different form at months in Leibnitz (South Styria), where cal Art (Linz), Peter Weihs (Kukmirn) and the Kunsthalle Tübingen from March 2019. they learned German. They were then to Thomas Stimm (Burgau). Without their gen- Additionally, in the frame of the mediation continue their training at an agricultural col- erous support, the comprehensive nature of programme on the exhibition there is a lege in Silberberg, at the Montan University this project would not have been possible. series of cooperations with African-Austrian in Leoben, at the Technical University or at partners from Graz. Here our thanks go to the School of Arts and Crafts in Graz. Liyolo The exhibition itself—even though it ini- Monika Holzer-Kernbichler and her team. attended the School of Arts and Crafts in tially takes Congolese art as its starting Graz, and later the University of Applied point and places a special focus on Congo- In the middle of preparations for Congo Arts in Vienna. He married a woman from lese-Austrian relations—is transnational Stars, the medical anthropologist and eth- Styria and in 1970 he returned to Congo to and interdisciplinary. It combines, with its nologist Armin Prinz, one of the most impor- teach at the newly founded Académie des curators (Sammy Baloji, Bambi Ceuppens, tant experts on Congolese art, passed away. Beaux-Arts in Kinshasa, of which he became Günther Holler-Schuster, Fiston Mwanza The exhibition is also dedicated to his Rector in 1986. Mujila, Barbara Steiner), the assistance memory. curator (Alexandra Trost) and registrars from On Liyolo’s initiative, a request from the Kunsthaus Graz (Astrid Mönnich, Magdalena Barbara Steiner, Kunsthaus Graz DRC was addressed to the Austrian Minis- Muner), our cooperation partners in Lubum- 6 7 Interview with Alfred Liyolo I want to perfect myself, especially learn [laughing] With patience and with work. sculpture and the art of modelling. In order Kurt Jungwirth to become a really good artist. To be able to [laughing] Yes, with work and with patience, return to Congo one day and really be a man the two must unfortunately go together. Mr. Alfred Liyolo, where are you from? there who understands his profession. Well then, I wish you a lot of courage and I come from Leopoldville. Do you have any ideas of, considerations on all the best for this work! European art? Were you also born in Leopoldville? Oh merci, merci beaucoup. Yes, I studied art history. I had to get to No, I was born in a village 320 km from know the art of all continents. So, I also Audio recording by the Picture and Sound Archive, Graz (today Multimedia Collections, UMJ), 1963 Leopoldville. picked up some ideas of European art his- Duration: 8 min 12 s tory. Only these are mainly theoretical The interview was conducted in German and French. Alfred Liyolo spoke only French, Kurt Jungwirth (later Styrian But you lived in Leopoldville for a long thoughts. cultural politician) interpreted. time? Have you already discovered any traces of Yes, I’ve lived there since 1949. this European art here in Austria?

And what were you doing in Leopoldville? Yes, I’ve discovered a lot of things while walking in the streets. Especially in the field My father moved to Leopoldville first. He of sculpture, but also painting. I have seen Alfred Liyolo, La Symphonie, 1982 settled there and then took me to the city that Austria is a highly developed country at a later time. And there I had my formal of art. education and attended school from the first grade of elementary school to the Can you tell us what kind of impression a Academy of Fine Arts. typical Austrian Baroque church makes on you? Be completely frank. What were you doing there as a student at that academy? [laughing] What I have seen here has con- firmed for me above all what I have learned I come from a village that is very well known so far in art history. I have seen in practice for its artistic products. Ivory carvings are that what I once had to learn in theory mainly made there. And I myself discov- really exists. By the way, the impression ered a talent to become an artist. That’s that such a work of art makes on an Afri- why I went to this academy and there I got can—such churches do not exist in Africa— to know different fields. Above all model- is completely unfamiliar. ling. And sculpture as well as drawing and sketching. And finally, I was awarded the And what do think of our language? scholarship to go to Austria. [laughing] The German language is very, What are you looking for, what do you very difficult. I believe that with a little expect from Austria in this regard? Do you patience I will be able to speak this lan- want to perfect yourself here or do you guage a little. want to look for inspiration?

8 9 Conversations with Collectors

Günther Holler-Schuster, Barbara Steiner

1 Werner Horvath The pictures of the ‘peinture populaire’ have obviously influenced you a lot. You can see When did you start collecting Congolese art? this clearly in the subjects, but also in the way your pictures are constructed. First, I painted critical anti-war images. This was the result of an examination of This is best seen in this series of five pic- Soviet socialism; I collected these works tures. [→ pp. 30–31] They show tropical dis- and processed the inspiration in my own eases, anxieties and neuroses, occupational paintings. Soviet art became too expensive diseases, diseases of civilization, diseases for me at some point, so I stopped this. At of excess and deficiency. The latter clearly an exhibition at the Josephinum in Vienna, I shows the African influence. I describe the came across the African collection that Pro- course of disease of Aids. You can see the fessor Prinz had built up. Actually by mere flirting in the pub, the sexual intercourse, coincidence, because a picture of Professor the attempts to escape infection (a healer Olbert, a well-known physician that I had carrying out a chicken blood treatment) painted, was exhibited there. I immediately and death—the corpse is then taken away. noticed the political images from Congo. The models for these subjects come from And it turned out that Professor Prinz often an African painter. He depicted the scenes had to buy these too, although he was actu- exactly like that. ally only interested in the medical images. These were ‘leftovers’, so to speak; they Why do you consider Aids a deficiency were standing around and could not be used disease? for his ethnomedicine collection. I asked him if I could buy these. There is a lack of information, prevention, therapy ... This is why I added Aids to the What was your motivation to collect these deficiency diseases. However, due to my pictures? time-consuming technique, I cannot paint current scenes of daily politics. SAPINart I was fascinated with what they depict. You could do this, but I can’t. can hardly look at the images, they are so cruel. I was very interested in the courage Congolese artists react quickly to events. to paint such scenes. It fascinates me that someone shows a presidential election and Armin Prinz took advantage of this once. presents the candidates as animals and This was the final phase of the election the ruling president as a rat. In a country between Kabila and Bemba. The latter lost where no one is safe, the president could but did not give up, was stuck with his easily order the painter to be killed. Nobody body­guards in Kinshasa, defended his area would prosecute that. I admired very much and there was a conflict: Hotels were under that the painter dared to depict it like that. fire, there were lootings. Eventually, Bemba That’s why I switched from Soviet to Congo- fled to Portugal. In any case, Prinz visited lese painters. painters in this chaos and commissioned Depot Horvath 11 Werner Horvath after Chéri Cherin, Exhibition posters, 2010 Démon-cratie, 2004 them to paint this chaos. He commissioned Do you know Peter Weihs, the Austrian art- I bought the painting right away. However, I able. There are guards outside the door who a lot of works in general. The painters ist who taught at the Académie des Beaux- have never visited commercial galleries. won’t let anyone in. responded to this. When they realized there Arts for a very long time? was a demand, they copied more and more You have exhibited your paintings several You transferred Chéri Cherin’s painting paintings. You have quite an influence on I got in touch with Prof. Weihs via Prof. times, i.e. you have organised your own ‘Démon-cratie’ directly to Austrian political production, even if you don’t want it—you Prinz. It was from him that I bought a paint- exhibitions. What was the motivation for circumstances. commission something and you get ten ing by Moke. I was eager to have a picture this? slightly different variants right away. of this artist, because I see Moke as a One sees a car stuck in the swamp. I varied quantum leap in Congolese painting. Weihs In 2010, I organised 50 Years of Independ- the scene slightly by exchanging heads— What is your professional background? brought many paintings from Africa with ence. Congo in Pictures together with Prinz, with small newspaper pictures of Austrian him, and he also sold some. For example, he an exhibition of political art at Puchenau politicians who, figuratively speaking, are I studied medicine, not art, so I’m a self- brought a beautiful painting by Chéri Samba Castle and at the Jägermayrhof in Linz—this now pushing the banks stuck in the swamp. educated person. I started to paint already to Austria, which the Museum of Ethnology is an event centre supported by the Upper This therefore referred to the current situ- as a teenager. My father was a house (now Weltmuseum Wien) purchased. He had Austrian Chamber of Labour. ation at the time. My interpretation was painter and our cellar was full of colours. to cut the painting into four pieces to take In 2009, in the frame of ‘Linz 2009 – Euro- depicted in a local newspaper, but unfortu- The profession of artist had not been so it with him. pean Capital of Culture’, I presented the nately heavily cropped. welcome in my family. But I have never Unfortunately, I have failed to buy a picture exhibition We Are Congo in the so called regretted my medical studies. Later on, I of Chéri Samba. Looking at the prices, it’s ‘Kunstpalast’. This was basically a discarded Were there African artists present in Linz on wanted to link medicine and art. too late now. caravan from the GDR, furnished with par- the occasion? quet flooring and crystal chandeliers. My Have you ever been to Congo yourself? Have you also bought anywhere else? Apart exhibition presented 100 paintings from Moke-Fils wanted to come but we couldn’t from Prinz and Weihs? Congo. But there were only a few originals, get him the visa. I have never been to Congo. I’m happy with most of the pictures were shown on a navi- the imagery and artistic expression. Since I On the occasion of the exhibition 50 Years gation device at the entrance, which was myself got almost every infectious disease of Congo I travelled to Tervuren. Because used as a kind of ‘digital picture frame’.For in the course of my life, I wanted to avoid the Royal Museum for Central Africa had me, the content of these pictures can also this journey. also received seven paintings on loan from be transferred to Austria. Let’s consider the me, among others works by Chéri Cherin and painting by Ange Kumbi: The populist can- Moke. When I was there, I saw an original in didate first shows his closeness to the peo- the museum shop—it was by Sam Ilus. ple, then he is elected and unapproach 12 13 Through Belgian friends and an Alsatian guy had even created an own programme for who spoke German well, I quickly learned ‘Modelling the Head’. I was modelling with French. I made an effort to listen and under- the students, we worked together on their stand. I also attended a language course at respective objects. That was a nice experi- the Centre Culturel Français. Because my ence, because it wasn’t about saying, ‘That’s work was primarily oriented towards crafts, my idea ...’—there was much more team- it was okay. And you communicate on a work than in Vienna. different level when you don’t speak a lan- When I arrived in Kinshasa before school guage perfectly. started, I even helped Liyolo to make plas- ter moulds, because I knew this very well How long in total did you work at the Aca- from Leinfellner’s commissioned works. This démie des Beaux-Arts in Kinshasa? experience was worth its weight in gold. Liyolo had just received a major commission I was there with interruptions between from Mobutu. I even lived near him for a November 1972 and September 1991, these while. At first, he took me to the Academy in Peter Weihs with Chéri Cherin and Monsengo were mostly during the summer holidays or his car. Then I bought a Volvo myself. Ini- Shula, 2000 became longer when the unrest began. Then tially payment was good, part of the salary you often had to wait in Europe for half a was transferred to Austria in dollars. year before you could go back to Congo. But On the spot, I got zaïres. But it took months 2 Peter Weihs Later I found out that Friederike had written for the first three years, I stayed in Kinshasa before the money was on my account. a letter to the Austrian Ministry of Educa- without interruption. Originally, I intended For the last five, six years, I got five million You studied in Vienna? tion. At the time, Liyolo was in charge of the to stay for two years. bills and a beer budget from a brewery. You sculpture class at the Academy in Kinshasa, The original idea was to send two stu- could then resell it. I studied with Heinz Leinfellner. In 1959, he and many years later he even became its dents—the sculptor Makala Mbuta and the In the course of time there were more and became lecturer for ceramic plastics and, in rector. Interestingly, I had seen Liyolo ear- ceramic artist Magwaia Samba—to study in more local lecturers—in the end there were 1972, he was appointed to a full professor- lier, literally only seen him, in Prague, 1961, Europe during our time in Kinshasa. Indeed, only Congolese. ship at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna. at an international ceramics exhibition. Our they both graduated from the University of class of ceramics and sculpture supervised Applied Arts in Vienna. They were supposed Were there any of your students who had a When did you travel to Congo? by Bertoni went there to exhibit its works. to replace us as lecturers, but things devel- connection to ‘peinture populaire’? oped differently. They didn’t return, at least This has to do with Alfred Liyolo, an artist What did you know about ‘Africa’ or even not immediately. So, Stimm and I stayed Chéri Cherin was in my course, Mika also who attended the sculpture class at the Congo? longer. After all, I had enough interesting studied at the Academy. For Cherin the Ortweinschule in Graz and then married a students, mainly Africans, from Zaire, Chad, classes took too long—therefore he did not woman from Styria, Friederike. At that time, I still had no connection to Brazzaville, Angola ... The first woman ever finish the ceramic classes. He wanted to After studying at the Academy in Vienna— Africa—but I heard of the magnificent studied with me in the ceramics depart- make money as fast as he could. he was the first student of Wander Ber- nature and became generally curious. How- ment. Later the ratio of female and male toni—Liyolo returned to Congo. One day we ever, the riots following the assassination students was 1:4. How did you meet the other Congolese received a letter at the University of Applied of Lumumba were also very much present painters? Arts saying that they were looking for sculp- in Austria at that time. Most of the people What were the classes like? tors and ceramists for the Académie des I knew had advised me against it and said Pierre Haffner, the Alsatian guy, was the Beaux-Arts in Kinshasa. Leinfellner asked that I would lose touch with the art scene in It was totally handicraft for me, I worked important man through whom I met the me: ‘Do you want to go to Africa?’ And I Austria. Oswald Stimm himself shared this with the students, showed them how to painters. wanted—like my later colleague Oswald concern and therefore preferred to go back make pottery, rub glazes, plaster moulds, He ran a cinéclub at the Centre Culturel and Stimm. He then also went to Kinshasa for to Vienna. But this didn’t stop me, even if I nature studies—in short: I introduced them was very interested in popular painting. one year. had difficulties with the language at first. to the working processes of ceramics. I The paintings were very present, there was 14 15 Moke, The Weihs family, Pierre Haffner and Sudila, 1975 an own market, the ‘Marché des Portrait Peter Weihs, painted by Moke, 1977 voleurs’ ... This painting is to be understood as an expression of respect and friendship between one artist (Moke) and Why did you leave Congo? the other artist (Weihs). Moke shows the sculptor and painter Peter Weihs in the classical pose of an artist. The riots started in 1989/90. At that time, Following a quite Western pictorial tradition—which is the depicted person’s origin—the artist is shown almost all Europeans left the country. Then almost stereotypically with the attributes of his pro- I left the country in 1991. Finally, I lived in fession: The self-confident and meaningful artist, the Academy, across the street from the looking out of the picture, is working on a canvas exhibition space. This apartment was kept that is erected on an easel with his right hand; with the chisel in his left hand, he is simultaneously carv- for me for nine years, with everything inside ing a sculpture. The dark figure positioned in the it. It wasn’t until 2000 that I liquidated my foreground seems to indicate the local art context, household stuff, took what was important while the abstract or unfinished design on the canvas with me and gave away the rest. I created a rather places the artist in a Western tradition. It is once again the intercultural context in which Peter picture book of this last 30-day visit. Weihs’ artistic work makes itself understood that is expressed here. 16 17 knew the so-called ‘Marché des voleurs’, as Stimm and Weihs visited artists like Moke many Europeans snidely called the art and and Chéri Samba with me and I slowly souvenir market in the city centre, at the became friends with ‘art populaire’. But I time. Paintings and counterfeited or stolen didn’t buy anything at the time. Either I had ethnographics, which didn’t interest me to save money as a researching student any further, were on offer there. My travel because I was on my way to my research area companion and friend Manfred Kremser, the of the Azande in north-eastern Zaire, or I had unfortunately already deceased professor nothing left in my pocket when I returned. for ethnology at the University of Vienna, But I had already met Moke before through was however enthusiastic and bought such Bernhard Hafner, then director of the Insti- a painting. It was a stylised representation tut Culturel Français. He collected Moke’s of masks, as they are often and happily paintings. Hafner’s widow probably still offered on tourist markets in Africa. This owns the countless paintings by Moke, picture was hanging in front of his office at which Hafner had collected—occasionally the university until he died. she sells one. It was only slowly, at the beginning of the Armin Prinz with Chéri You initially built up the Ethnomedicine Col- 1980s, that I began to deal with these Cherin, 2011 lection without the ‘peinture populaire’, and works. I slowly developed the plan of inte- also collected it for the Museum of Ethno­ grating paintings into my Ethnomedicine logy—now Weltmuseum—in Vienna. Collection. 3 Armin Prinz doctor (he has the drugs, can operate) AND a traditional healer (who can heal discom- In 1974, I sold my first collection to the What was the situation you found? What When was the first time you were in Congo, fort, community conflicts). This parallelism Museum of Ethnology: Clay pots—and content did you first notice among the Mr Prinz? is still an issue today. numerous large-screen slides showing how painters of ‘peinture populaire’? Were there In my opinion, cultural factors and big they are made. It is the only complete pot already pictures of medical content? The first time I was in Congo, then Zaire, to contexts are underestimated, especially in collection of the Azande that exists. Today, collect material for my dissertation at the development aid and medicine. these vessels are no longer produced. I I soon realised that some of these pictures Azande-Avungara—an ethnic group that In any case, I was on the road mainly in the bought them myself at markets at the time. fit into my collection in terms of content. originally lived in the north of Congo and north-east of Congo, also in Sudan and in I put the pots in a plastic bag—I had a These paintings, which dealt with medically in neighbouring southern Sudan. I studied the Central African Republic. basket made around it—and the gaps were very relevant topics such as witchcraft, ethnology at the time, but I had always filled with construction foam. The pots then magic and traditional healers, were popular been interested in traditional medicine. A What was the original motivation for you to came to Austria as accompanied air freight. among the artists because they also dealt doctor once said that I could not judge all deal with the ‘peinture populaire’, even to Later I also sold knives and ethnographic with topics that were of utmost importance this because I was no doctor. So, I studied collect it? objects to the Museum of Ethnology. to the artists themselves. I remember the medicine. I feel truly interdisciplinary, but statement of a Zairean friend who had com- for the doctors I am the ethnologist and for In early 1972 I was not very enthusiastic How did you come to art as an ethnologist pleted his studies in nuclear physics in Swit- the ethnologists I am the doctor. about popular painting in Kinshasa. I still and doctor? zerland: ‘As a nuclear physicist, I know that In order to receive research funding, I had remembered the words of my ethnology witchcraft and magic are all superstition, studied the effectiveness of medicinal teacher Walter Hirschberg, who said that On my second trip in 1974 I met the two but they exist for me as African.’ plants and had written several articles on ‘the Africans’ were excellent carvers, but Austrian artists Oswald Stimm and Peter This reminded me of the statement of a the subject [see → S. 26–29]. However, I no painters. He justified this with the fact Weihs, who were lecturers at the art acad- world-famous Israeli biochemist, a friend was not so much interested in whether or that they would need cult objects for their emy in Kinshasa. At that time, I also lived of mine, who said that the Jewish rituals not these are effective in our sense, but religious practices, i.e. carvings, and not at the residence of Peter Weihs. By the way, of separating milk and meat are nonsense I wanted to know more about the back- paintings for which they would not have I practically couldn’t speak French at that from a biochemical point of view, but he still ground. Because one consulted a Western real walls to hang them. In addition, I only time. strictly adheres to the commandment. 18 19 How did the artists react to your special with Moke-Fils and Chéri Cherin I am very It started with a private interest, some- interest? close friends and was often at their home time—at home I had no more room—I and at family occasions. I also have very brought the paintings and objects to the They accepted it without long discussions, strong ties with Trésor Cherin, Shula and Alfi Institute for History of Medicine in the Jose- partly for commercial reasons, partly in Alfa, and I am always in touch with them. phinum in Vienna, where the Ethnomedicine their own interest. I have noticed time and Chéri Cherin, president of a no longer exist- Department of the University of Vienna was again that they are interested in the topics, ing artists’ association, even wanted to also housed at the time. There has never asking old relatives and other people. My appoint me honorary president. After all, I’m been an official handover to the Ethnomedi- commission was certainly also an impulse sure I’ve bought several hundred paintings cine Society, which I founded in 1979. for them to get back to their own traditional from them in the course of time. And there I financed the development of the collection beliefs. So, you could almost say that my was never any bargaining; we knew without through sales exhibitions. (reading) ‘Invita- commission brought them closer to their much discussion how much they wanted tion to the sales exhibition of the Austrian own tradition. and how much I was giving. It was always Ethnomedicine Society. The proceeds will be okay—a matter of honour. used to build up the Ethnomedicine collec- Have you placed specific commissions? tion.’ In the 1980s, when you began to buy more I was an airport doctor for a long time. Actually, that hasn’t been necessary at all. paintings, were you able to determine for The airport director was very interested in They realised and knew what I was look- whom the painters conceived their art—who Africa—and this allowed me every year, ing for. After all, this is also a phenomenon was their audience at the time, who bought every two years, to hold a sales exhibition many anthropologists forget in their field them? for artists on the airport grounds on the work. The informants often know immedi- occasion of the travel medicine conferences ately what the researcher wants to hear, It may be that I missed something, but I organised at the airport in Vienna-Schwe- what fits into his ideas, and they modify according to my observation it was almost chat. their information accordingly. This is not exclusively white foreigners. I also scheduled further sales exhibitions (in fraud, but rather also a kind of friendliness the Josephinum and later in the loft of the towards researchers. Besides, a satisfied As we know, the Ethnomedicine Collection Wiesbauer company) before Christmas on a boss is more generous in his pay ... you have built up, originally linked to the regular basis. In the Josephinum I met the Department of Ethnomedicine and Interna- collector, doctor and artist Werner Horvath Have you only collected paintings in Kin- tional Health at the Medical University of from Linz, who was particularly interested in shasa or in other cities as well? Vienna, is also housed in the Weltmuseum the political paintings he regularly bought Vienna. You presented the collection in the from me. I have only bought paintings in Kinshasa. Josephinum for a while. There were three exhibitions at the Vienna In Congo, I have always travelled directly to airport: Glass paintings from Senegal, Con- the residential area of the Azande via the I started to get involved with ethnomedicine golese art and Tanzanian art. At that time, capital. in 1972, as I said. At that time, I was already we could always invite at least two artists, taking pictures of seances and treatments. only at the Congolese art exhibition we got Have you cultivated intensive exchange or From 1974 I shot 16mm films, which were visa problems, Moke and Chéri Cherin would friendships with the artists and thus also then also published in Göttingen, at the have been invited, which unfortunately reflected on their living and working condi- Institute for Scientific Film. This archive was didn’t work out then. tions and gained insights? later acquired by Bertelsmann. But I have a Later, the Ethnomedicine Society received lot of uncut footage at home. money from the Anniversary Fund of the Through the years I have met and known National Bank to reappraise the collec- many of them—Moke, Chéri Samba, Chéri It has become a large project, the Ethno- tion. We were able to employ someone for Cherin, Bodo, Chéri Benga, Sim Simaro, medicine Collection. four years to work on the archiving of the Ekunde and many, many more. Especially collection. Now the whole thing has been 20 21 transferred to the Weltmuseum Wien. There is to be a comprehensive book project at a later date.

Have you given the Weltmuseum Wien all paintings?

I kept 80, on 10 I am shown myself, once as a doctor, where one arm is a syringe, the other one an ointment tube ... then there is another picture of Moke—I am cycling in the north of the country at the Azande ...

Are you still working in Congo today?

Yes, but to a limited extent for health rea- sons. Congo isn’t anymore the easy place it used to be back in 1972.

Were you familiar with the research on ‘pei- nture populaire’—for example by Johannes Fabian—at the beginning or were you look- ing for contact to these scholars?

Johannes Fabian, by the way a nephew of the famous Austrian pygmy researcher Father Schebesta, was someone I only knew from hearsay at the time. I have never been to Lubumbashi, where he was teaching, but I met him later in Vienna. He has viewed our collection with great interest. I received a lot of information about ‘peinture popu- Armin Prinz as Doctor, painted by Sam Ilus, 2011 laire’ from my unfortunately also deceased friend Nestor Seeuws, who was a curator at The fascination with the powerful white doctor, who entered the different disease progressions, symp- can make such an essential difference in people’s toms and so on, is lying open in front of me. Behind the National Museum in Kinshasa for many lives, is expressed in this picture. His central posi- me, there is a parasol with abbreviations from various years. tion, the hope associated with his presence, and international health organisations—except FIFA To sum up, I must say that I have always unexpected possibilities attributed to the doctor, all (International Football Association), which the viewer this is impressively expressed in the painting. Prinz probably associates with the artist’s private passion. been interested in the subject matter. I remembers its creation: Also the medical dictionary can be seen in the paint- looked at art from a purely ethnographic ing. The interaction of both forces and models of ‘This painting, created in 2011, was also painted thought—the rational scientific and the religious- point of view, I didn’t really care whether it especially for me. It shows me as a doctor. Instead of was artistically valuable or not. spiritual—is indicated here. Spiritual life—anchored my arms I have a syringe on one side and an oint- above all in local traditions—is generally included in ment tube on the other. The tube contains a drug the healing process and is therefore as important as that the artist derived from my first name—“Armicin”. various other healing practices.’ On my left side in the picture, modern Western drugs are depicted, while also the traditional level of heal- (Conversation with Günther Holler-Schuster, ing is visible on my right side. My diary, in which I 11.07.2018) 22 23 Armin Prinz Cycling, painted by Moke, 1986 The painting shows Armin Prinz on one of his expedi- feet. This is often done—the skin is scratched for the tions in Congo. Prinz describes the background for its application of medication or healing substances. He creation as follows: and other people in the village were often affected by Lyme disease. One of them couldn’t walk anymore ‘In 1986 I met Moke through the artist Peter Weihs. because of the pain. Lyme disease is an infectious At that time, I had a popular science magazine with disease that can be caused by tick bites and is very Armin Prinz Observing a Treatment Scene, painted me with an article describing my work and showing it by Landry Pengi, 2011 painful in humans. I was able to treat the patient sit- in photos. One of the photos shows me on a bicycle ting here in the painting well. Afterwards, he was not Pictures like these represent a special form of por- For example, the ‘Boutique Bosana” visible in the in the 1970s. I covered about 8,000 kilometres in only able to walk again, he even danced especially for trait. The depicted person is portrayed in the midst of background is an allusion to the fellow artist Claude eight months, which was very strenuous and made me as a thank you. The painting also shows a healer numerous attributes and detailed scenes that hint at Bosana. I am shown by the painter with a pad on me lose a lot of weight. The picture shows that I had (Abinza). Moke painted him into this scene from a his life and profession—speculating about it. Prinz which I write down my observations. A white woman tied a chicken to the bike rack—it was my provisions, photo. Spread out in front of him you can see the describes the situation and/or the painting as fol- vet with the typical white coat is administering an so to speak. It had been given to me by the people in medicinal plants I had collected. The white crosses as lows: injection to a dog. It is interesting that the treatment another village before. I had mounted a metal box on the healer’s body painting come from the artist’s of dogs is depicted—something that is more com- the luggage rack of the bicycle, in which I could store imagination. I didn’t find this anywhere else in this ‘The picture was painted for me as a gift in 2011. Lan- monly attributed to the whites. The status of pets my auxiliary equipment—camera, tape, herbarium form. In the background of the painting, you can see dry Pengi shows an urban scene in Kinshasa that is there is different from that in Europe.’ folder and so on. The luggage weighed about 40 the typical round huts that dominate the Azande about medical treatments. It shows me standing in kilos. The scene shows my arrival in the village. Peo- region in north-eastern Congo.’ the background, as an observer of the medical situa- (Conversation with Günther Holler-Schuster, ple, some of whom became my patients later, were tion in Congo. All kinds of allusions to my person and 11.07.2018) standing and sitting around me. A patient is sitting (Conversation with Günther Holler-Schuster, profession as well as to the artist can be seen here. on the ground with scarification on the soles of his 11.07.2018) 24 25

On Werner Horvath’s Five Representations of 1 Diseases of Affluence Diseases 2 Deficiency Diseases Werner Horvath, a radiologist and art collector also produces visual art himself. In his painting, he was 3 Tropical Diseases initially influenced by the Vienna School of Fantastic 4 Anxieties, Neuroses Realism, which first established itself on the market in Austria, but also internationally in the 1960s. At 5 Occupational Diseases the same time, the works of ‘art populaire’ from Zaire/Congo, which Horvath started to collect in the 2000s, have not remained without traces in his painterly work. The pictorial imagination of the Afri- can artists is formally related to Horvath’s. The sim- ultaneity of the different sceneries, which sometimes overrun the entire picture surface beyond any space- time continuum, combine different detail scenes into a monumental story. In five large-format paintings, the artist deals with the conception of diseases and the possibilities of representing them. As a doctor, he is very familiar with both the causes and the visible effects of dis- eases. In contrast to his scientific research into the production of coloured X-ray images by photographic means—‘The Coloured Phlebogram’, 1982—his paint- ings work on a symbolic level. He depicts the social context of diseases, their visible course and their manifold consequences. Things are visualised sche- matically that can be understood as comments, but 2 3 at the same time also serve moralising and informa- tive functions. The scientific image is abstract and/or surreal for lay- men. It needs to be interpreted by experts. For the doubly gifted man—both as a scientist and as an art- ist—both contexts of content can be clearly classi- fied. While the phlebogram provides information about flow directions, flow velocities in veins and arteries or turbulence in the blood circulation, the work of art offers more diverse possibilities of repre- sentation. Above all areas of the social and the psy- chic are covered by the artist in his artistic visualisations. Horvath describes his art as strongly influenced by constructivist philosophy (Glasersfeld, Uexküll, Watz- lawick). Consequently, he is also fundamentally not concerned with the essence of certain things, but with the process and the emergence of knowledge of them. This is also a farewell to the idea of absolute truth and empirical objectivity—after all, the observer cannot be regarded as independent from knowledge.

1 4 5

30 31 On Oswald Stimm’s Sculpture L’Africaine The sculpture L’Africaine—the representation of a mother and child—dates from Stimm’s creative period in Africa, where he was lecturer of sculpture at the Académie des Beaux Arts in Kinshasa from 1973 to 1982. It shows abstract forms that follow the vocabulary of classical modernism and incorporate space into the work—torn geometric forms that deny the block-like nature of the object. This is what Stimm has been interested in right from the beginning of his artistic work. The artist developed his repertoire of forms in Bue- nos Aires, Argentina, where he lived from 1951 to 1965. Later, during his time in Kinshasa, Stimm tried to revive the figurative element in his work. He exper- imented a lot with different materials such as pre- cious wood, but also with discarded and poor materials from which he created figures and portrait heads. He also captured many things on paper in studies—drawings, watercolours. The artist was particularly interested in human Oswald Stimm with the ‘Pygmies’, painted by beings in their plain surroundings, everyday rural life Moke, 1976 as well as aspects of the cult and people’s connec- tion with the laws of nature. During his time in Kinshasa—from 1973 to 1982— curator Nestor Seeuws on their research and collec- Oswald Stimm not only worked on his artistic output, tion missions there. A large number of studies on The relationship between the mother and her child— developed it further and sought and found new paper emerged as his direct response to this journey. a topos often found in Stimm’s work—also deter- aspects for his artistic examination, but he was also He felt that these people in their simple traditional mines this sculptural work. A stylised female figure keenly interested in the traditional way of life of peo- way of life were endangered and at the risk of disap- with a child in her arm appears silhouette-like cut out ple in his new environment. He travelled to the pearing and saw the encounter with modernity as a of a board and rudimentarily painted. Due to its flat remote villages of the Bambuti (‘forest people’ or for- threat. The popular painter Moke, with whom Oswald design—the figure only shows itself as a line seen merly ‘pygmies’) in the north-east of the country Stimm was friends and by whom he also owned from the side—this work is at the point of intersec- (Ituri) and could accompany scientists from the Kin- numerous paintings, captured this encounter of the tion between two- and three-dimensionality. shasa National Museum such as anthropologist artist with the inhabitants of a village in a large-for- Charles Hénault, musicologist Benoit Quersin and mat painting.

32 33 On Peter Weihs’ Sculptural Works On Peter Weihs’ Bar Scenes Peter Weihs’ artistic work is defined by the During his time in Kinshasa, Peter Weihs maintained sculptural. Through his training at the Acad- close ties with many painters of the ‘peinture popu- emy of Applied Arts in Vienna with Heinz laire’. Not only did he own numerous works by these Leinfellner and Wander Bertoni, he was artists, he was obviously influenced by their content familiar with methods and forms of classical and style of painting. Participating in the social modernism. Abstraction, tectonics and col- events of the African metropolis, he also reflected ouring remain essential questions of his this in some paintings. Although this was unusual for artistic work to this day. For the most part, his artistic practice, he created figurative paintings in he realised his sculptures, which he had this way. It was mainly scenes of everyday life and often pre-formulated in wood, as ceramic bar scenes that Weihs captured in this context. The works. He also used this material, and this cubistic-looking geometrisation shifts the scenes procedure respectively, for public commis- into a fashionable and urban atmosphere. sions in connection with architecture. He created large-format ceramic reliefs and Peter Weihs himself describes his art as ‘[…] not a groups of sculptures, for example as artistic constant, found and maintainable way of expression, façade designs for public buildings. but a permanently changing mobile working process that is able to build relationships’. (in: exhibition wapi mongali na jo, 1975 Peter Weihs taught ceramics at the Aca- catalogue Afrika, Zaire, Kinshasa – Moke, Samba, démie des Beaux-Arts in Kinshasa from 1972 Thango, Weihs, Kultur­amt der Stadt Stockerau, 1992) to 1992. This time, which was so fruitful for the artist, meant an intensive examination of the local art scene—both formal and sub- stantive echoes can be felt—but did not let him deviate fundamentally from his artistic language of modernity. Geometric forms, King, Queen and Black Cat, 1975 cubes, spheres and tubes in intensive col- ours dominate the works, which are partly made of painted wood, but for the most part of fired and glazed clay. He also transfers these forms to the two-dimensionality of painting. The paintings also reveal an exami- nation of the tectonics of supporting and weight-bearing forms and the reduction of the physical-organic to geometrical bodies and surfaces. Perruche bleu, 1975

34 35 and dynamic community, which we have to investigate in detail. The community itself, however, has to keep on making an effort to become more visible so to fight against existing prejudice and discrimination. That’s why the Chiala Afrika festival is such an important opportunity for us to show that ‘we’re here as well’; that we’re part of this town. Occasions like the exhibition Congo Stars, or the exhibitions on Romuald Hazoumè11 or Samson Ogiamien12 a few Romuald Hazoumè in his exhibition at Kunsthaus years back are an important opportunity Graz, 2013 for our community to enjoy being seen and perceived as a vivid partner in the art scene. These are pivotal opportunities to show the Kamdem Mou Poh à Hom beim Chiala Afrika people of Graz what we have to offer. A lot Festival in Graz can be communicated via art and culture, and this commitment is linked to a great hope that ‘Africa’ will be understood better „Africa in Graz‘ and therefore that we will be understood A conversation with Kamdem Mou better. Poh à Hom View of the exhibition of Samson Ogiamien at We from Kunsthaus Graz enjoy working Kunsthaus Graz, 2016 Monika Holzer-Kernbichler with the organisation Chiala because you consider cultural work, artistic work and a resident of Graz, only reside on the east- How would you describe ‘Africa in Graz’? an African initiative as a whole. By now we mediation central to your philosophy. You ern, and allegedly ‘better’ part of the Mur, have several African stores2, African hair- understand how arts and culture are, in the I won’t register the African community in „To me ‘Africa in Graz’ represents something dressing salons like the ones by Mama Lee widest sense, an important link that man- my everyday life, except for people selling grand, an entity, even if not all people in or Fatou.3 We have African restaurants and ages to bring people together and relieve the Megaphon magazine. The Chiala Africa this town are aware of it. There are many cafés.4 There are several African religious prejudice. Exhibitions and events like that Festival is an important exception; it draws different people, initiatives and happenings groups,5 mostly Christian, but also Muslim. are a great opportunity for us to create many people from all directions and gathers that come together and have sometimes There are initiatives like Chiala,6 IKEMBA,7 dialogue and exchange between very dif- them for celebrations on a big fairground. developed simultaneously. In the last 20 Megaphon,8 ERfA9 or the art club NIL.10 ferent people. Our goal in art education is But also the tours13 on ‘African Graz’ you years, a proper African community has There are all these initiatives, but there are to consistently enter societal spaces that offer regularly, in my opinion, play an impor- formed in Graz. It’s not that easy to put into also the individual people. might be unfamiliar to us. It enables us to tant part in creating a certain openness for a few words what ‘Africa in Graz’ is like—it’s In Graz there are currently around 3,000 open up new perspectives, which allow for what people who have found their way here always subjective. But there are definitely people from Africa who still have African valuable experiences. This grounds me right from Africa are concerned with. several African communities in this town, citizenship, around 1,000 of which are in the center of our museum’s educational At Chiala you also offer social counseling, which have formed depending on differ- from Nigeria. On top of that there are cer- mandate. I view the museum as a social support people in different issues, such as ent countries of origin, regions, ethnic or tainly five times as many people of African space where borders can be dismantled and finding a job or an apartment among other religious groups. Of course, I could say for descent who already have Austrian citizen- overcome through art, and diversity, which things. How do you experience this kind of my own account that especially the Chiala ship and therefore don’t appear in the sta- ultimately constitutes the quality of a town, support for the people in Graz? When does Africa Festival1 at Augarten that we initi- tistics. Also, one shouldn’t forget about the can be made visible. Art is always con- integration work out, where do you see ated 15 years ago has contributed greatly. university students who are from various nected to the people somehow! I have to problems? But ‘Africa in Graz’ is a lot more; it is really African countries. It is a very lively, eclectic allow myself to get involved, though. If I, as 36 37 We offer counseling basically for all people There are many problems in the community, How many Africans are there anyhow in for me, I would say there are not many peo- with migratory background, although about but fortunately there are a lot of things that relation to Austrians? ple who feel as much at home here as me. 80% are from Africa. At the moment, more work really well. To be frank, I love this town. I’ve lived here and more people from Syria and Afghanistan 20 years ago, for example, there wasn’t a Precisely! But I hear that all the time. for 22 years. Of course you can be critical. are coming to us. It is especially difficult for single African store in Graz, now we have Sometimes people say, ‘You’re African, Politics have poisoned the climate too. They them to find their place in society because over 15 characteristically African shops, right?’, and I say, ‘yes’. But actually, I am attempt to deny that Austria is an immi- they face many obstacles that have been small supermarkets and 3 to 4 African res- a Cameroonian, and to be precise, I am a gration country. Then they pay lip service deliberately placed there, which compli- taurants—so a lot of good things are hap- Cameroonian-Nigerian, because my mother and at the same time people are denied cates integration significantly. pening as well! There are a few hidden areas is from Nigeria. I’d never get the idea to the possibility to integrate. Unfortunately, Many people who arrive in Graz don’t speak in Graz where you can find people of African say, ‘Monika, you’re European’, but I say, many political parties are drifting to the German yet. First of all, we help them with descent. We try to make these areas visible ‘you’re Austrian, right?’ What I want to say right. They want Africans in Africa, but not basic communication difficulties, counsel in our tours. is: there is an imbalance in the observation here. People dealing drugs, criminals—of them in their native languages or in a lan- of the respective other. While people within course there are problems, but we are often guage they understand. Next, we help them You have mentioned politics that admittedly Europe deal with their own national identi- reduced to these stereotypes. We have to to find a German language course, which allow you to keep going, but don’t actually ties in quite a nuanced way, they lose their talk about these problems and work on is not always easy. Unfortunately, these support you. Funding is decreasing, like in sense of nuance with the distance to Africa. solutions, but avoid harassment. You won’t courses are often quite expensive and have many other cultural areas; you are not the The way immigrated people see the town is believe how many people act discrimina- to be financed somehow, which is only only ones affected by this as other cultural shaped by many factors, depending on the tory and racist on the quiet. Many don’t partly possible with temporary benefits. As organizations are impacted as well. The cul- experiences they’ve had or have now. I per- find work here in Graz because they are soon as they are able to speak the language tural sector usually suffers a lot of budget sonally have the feeling that people from black. Also finding an apartment is difficult reasonably well, we help them to get an cuts. According to your evaluation, how Africa often have difficulties understanding because black people are not welcome (‘I education. Here we face a lot of difficulties does the African community see the city of this society. Unfortunately, negative expe- don’t want any “n…”’). But we shouldn’t gen- working with the public authorities. Graz? What do you think about the city and riences have a much deeper impact than eralise, as there are a lot of positive devel- Moreover, we have to deal with cuts in its people, what’s your impression of us? positive ones. Even though the number of opments. The majority of people who live funding, which affects us NGOs especially. Africans in Graz has increased in the last 20 here are not like that, fortunately. But sadly Unfortunately, there are politicians who It has to be said that the African people years, I don’t feel that they’re very happy a few mean voices can poison a whole town. spread prejudice and fuel discrimination, have arrived in Graz and thankfully there is here. That is mainly connected to the low Our goal is to keep on working to improve without informing themselves properly on not only one single African community, but opinion people have here on Africans. the climate and the community. the situation. Sadly, they have no idea and looking closely there are several African are not even interested, but use our issues communities, which can be quite different On the one hand there are these stories Mama Lee, an African businesswoman in for propaganda, which sometimes even from each other. People from Nigeria have a about indifference, devaluation and dis- Graz, was asked what she missed most turns into harassment. different mentality than people from Ghana, crimination of Africans in Graz, but on the about her home country, and she replied, We at the organization are happy about from Congo, Rwanda or from Cameroon, and other hand I experience more and more the life in the street. If you think about every single person we are able to help, and so on. These are all different cultures and people here in Graz romanticizing ‘Africa’, what that means for Graz —especially we continue our work with great dedication often the only thing we have in common is ‘how fantastic is Namibia’, ‘how wonder- having just returned from southern Europe, on a voluntary basis. the color of our skin—sometimes, but now ful is Morocco’, or, ‘I spend weeks in Kenya where small streets can be quite busy—you A big problem is unemployment. Because always. The food is similar sometimes, for every year. It’s incredible there, the people realize that life there takes place mostly politicians have complicated access to example there are many places that have are so nice and outgoing’ and so on. The in the street, where there are no cars. In education, many people lack suitable skills plantains, but the preparation is always ‘exotic other’ obviously plays a big part in Italy, for example, many historic streets which they would need to find work. As a different. What I want to say is this: Africa this. The desire for the exotic comes true in are simply too narrow. But also in Graz, the result, they run into debt which leads to is a ‘big thing’! It is excessive to talk about the distance, in an adventure far away from streets can be quite busy when there’s a big further problems and ultimately prevents an ‘Austro-African society’. You can’t relate home—whatever people make of this. festival and streets are closed for traffic. integration. a small country like Austria to the whole of So I ask myself: why don’t we give people In the long run, non-integration is far more Africa. We should not forget that society has this kind of quality of life back? Life in the expensive than integration itself. changed a lot in the last 20 years. If it were street here in Graz has become dangerous. 38 39 tion to noise. In Cameroo­n you step outside to Europe. The majority of people speak and everyone makes music, speakers in the more different languages than what is the streets. Nobody minds. It’s what you’re used norm here in Europe. How many languages to. You can’t pass judgment, it’s just dif- do you speak next to German and French? ferent. You can tell that Mama Lee misses these surroundings, which she was born Well, I can’t tell you an exact number. Some into and raised. Her hairdressing salon languages I speak very well, some not as is certainly a meeting point. All kinds of well, some I only understand. Where I grew people come to her salon, sometimes just up, you don’t have to be especially clever in to talk. That’s quite different in Austrian order to speak different languages because Mama Lee in her hair salon stores. ‘African tour’ in Graz the languages are all there. First, I grew up in a country with English and French as Yes, I talked to a small business owner official languages, which means when you Not because of the people, but because of here in the area around the Kunsthaus just I have noticed that you have a strong net- start school you have to learn either English their mobility behaviour. School children recently. She runs her shop by herself. She work—inside of Europe, but also in Africa. or French, the others you will learn even- cannot walk to school because traffic has has noticed as well that people often only How significant is your network for your tually. Then you have to choose between become too risky. We’re running the risk of stop by very quickly and leave right away. work here? Spanish or German in high school, so I chose overlooking that social life improves signifi- She is on her own quite a lot and therefore Spanish. I learned German when I arrived cantly, when we’re travelling on foot. In this lonely in her shop. Yes, I have a European network; I am on the here. Then there are a few Cameroonian respect, it’s easy to imagine what Mama road a lot; we meet and talk. I observe how languages that are being used simulta- Lee was referring to: stepping outside and There are quite a lot of differences, indeed. it works in other countries and I can learn neously. Then there is also Cameroonian engaging in conversation with somebody, People who came here from Africa suddenly from that. I’m often positively surprised Pidgin English as a lingua franca—there engaging personally with what’s going on. I have to learn a lot. The language, the laws, how Africans are integrated as managers or you understand a few words in English can imagine that a lot of barriers could be new job, new surroundings; that’s why peo- many other positions. Naturally, people feel and a few in French, but you can’t really destroyed that way. ple are often stressed in the first years here discriminated there to some extent too, but understand us. This goes on in my family; before they gain a foothold. For Europeans they identify as people of these countries. my wife talks Wolof to our children, I talk Culture can be a bit tricky, because you take it’s often easier the other way around, when As Frenchman/woman, as Belgian, as Eng- French to them and sometimes we talk in it with you. You take your cultural heritage, they’re coming to Africa as wealthy people. lishman/woman, as German and so on. They German among each other. There are not not matter where you go. Of course it can Moreover, most people here have a solid have been told that they’re, for instance, so few African children in Graz who speak be difficult to act it out sometimes. Austria education and speak English or another French. I have to argue quite often or peo- African languages. But it is not encouraged. is a very regulated country, you need a per- language of the former colonies. In many ple chuckle when I identify myself as Aus- I personally find all languages very, very mit for everything. That’s ok. If you go to African countries, Austrians don’t need a trian, ‘Yeah, sure’, they say, ‘an Austrian is important. the market in Africa, for example in Douala, visa or can get one very easily. The African not as dark skinned …’. It hasn’t caught on the largest city in Cameroon, you are faced people’s inferiority complex opens every yet that we’re part of the Austrian identity. Language is strongly connected to identity. with 36.000 people. You can’t imagine door for the Europeans. And for the Africans, Our children who were born here take their Depending on the language you speak, your organised chaos like that. If Europeans go all doors are shut in Europe, because they sense of belonging for granted. That’s why habit changes. All these languages broaden there, they often become afraid because of are stigmatised as ‘poor’ or ‘criminal’ from I appreciate the presence of David Alaba, your horizon immensely and it’s easier to all the fuss and goings-on. But everyone the start. Arabella Kiesbauer or Cesár Sampson, make friends. German was the last lan- there has their place; the people there have because they demonstrate that it’s pos- guage you’ve learned when you came here. their own rules. Also the level of noise there Part of your work at Chiala is building self- sible to be black and successful for and in Why did you come here out of all places? can be experienced differently. If you’re confidence: we are here, we are capable, Austria. from Africa, you’re used to loud surround- we have something to offer—that’s your It was a nice coincidence, I’d say. After I ings. Here, people are extremely sensitive message. You have different know-how and It was very enriching for me to see that finished my degrees in law and political to noise. When I first started organising it’s being accepted here. Building self-confi- the diversity and liveliness of languages in science, I was working as a journalist in the Africa festival, I learned to pay atten- dence is what you do here in Graz, but Africa is far more pronounced in comparison Cameroon. It was quite difficult to work as a 40 41 journalist in a dictatorship. I was a journalist 1 Kamdem Mou Poh à Hom is general manager of Chiala – with heart and soul, but there were a lot of Organisation for the Promotion of Culture, Diversity and problems. My colleagues and I were wanted Development. For the last 15 years he has organised a big Africa festival at the Augarten. by the police, incarcerated, persecuted; we 2 had to appear in court because our coverage E.g. AKA-CHUKWU Afroshop, Elisabethinergasse 36; LAGOS was too critical. Then there was censorship; MAINLAND AFROSHOP, Ungergasse 4; GOD Afroshop, it’s unbelievable how long it can take to Prankergasse 19. 3 print a paper. I came to Graz for a conven- Mama Lee Afro Salon, Feuerbachgasse 7; Afro American Hair tion on freedom of press. With the help of Salon Nanah, Kaiser-Franz-Josef-Kai 42. journalists I stayed; that was 23 years ago 4 E.g. Meet me there, Gasthaus – African and Austrian cuisine, in September. If you’ve lived in a city for so Griesgasse 50; Omoka, African restaurant, Keplerstaße 12; long, you feel at home here. I know every Hakuna Matata, South African Lounge Graz, Grabenstraße 1. street; I have a lot of friends here. I was 5 working on a project in Senegal not long E.g. African church, Augasse 114, or God’s Deliverance Center, Kapellenstraße 8. ago, and after 10 days I thought about Graz 6 and asked myself: ‘Is it that bad already?’ Chiala - Organisation for the Promotion of Culture, Diversity I was homesick for Graz. and Development; Griesplatz 13, 8020 Graz; http://chiala.at/ 7 Organization IKEMBA, Burggasse 4/2, 8010 Graz; http://www.ikemba.at 8 Megaphon, Auschlössl, Friedrichgasse 36, 8010 Graz; http://www.megaphon.at 9 Organisation ERfA – Experience for ALL. Organisation for charitable engagement, Exerzierplatzstraße 33. 10 BAODO at NIL, Lazarettgasse 5, 8020 Graz; http://nil.mur.at/ 11 Romuald Hazoumè, Beninese Solidarity with Endangered Westerners, exhibition at Kunsthaus Graz, 21.09.2013- 12.01.2014, curated by Günther Holler-Schuster. 12 Yaruya. The Sculptor Samson Ogiamien Between African Tradition and European Reality, exhibition at Kunsthaus Graz, 05.05.-02.06.2016, curated by Günther Holler-Schuster. 13 In the frame of the exhibition Congo Stars, tours through African Graz with Kamdem Mou Poh à Hom will be offered free of charge on 25.10., 08.11. and 10.12.2018, and will be accompanied with an African meal (cost price). Information and registration via 0316/8017-9200.

42 43 Timeline Austria – Congo 1869 humanitarian only on the surface; in fact, on his journey around the world. He is The Suez Canal is completed. resources are to be researched and access accompanied by 400 people. Emperor Franz Joseph I attends the secured. In 1882, Kallina travels to Congo. Around 14,000 items that he brings 1776 opening. along are added to the inventory of the Inspired by William Bolts, Empress Maria The Habsburg Monarchy concludes 1882 Weltmuseum (Museum of Ethnology) in Theresia founds a (second) Austrian East trade agreements with China, Japan, Austria-Hungary accepts Italian territorial Vienna at a later date. India trading company in Trieste to establish and Thailand in addition to the existing claims in East Africa in the so-called Triple and subsequently intensify non-European ones with Morocco, Tunisia, and Liberia. Alliance. 1894 trade relations. The first East India company Negotiations are under way with Zanzibar The Austrian-Hungarian Colonial Society in Ostend (Ostend Company) was dissolved and Egypt. Consulates and a new line of the 1883 is founded. It advocates once again the in 1773 under pressure from Great Britain Austrian Lloyd, at the time one of the largest Kallina drowns in a canoe accident. In acquisition of colonies. and the Netherlands. shipping companies worldwide, are opened Kinshasa, a municipality district is named in East Africa. after him: Kalina (today: La Gombe). 1899 1777 Hermann von Wissmann, German Africa The ships of the trading company reach 1873 1884 researcher, officer, and colonial official, Delagoa Bay (today: Maputo Bay, Vienna World Exposition takes place in Berlin Conference: Representatives of purchases the Mayr estate at Lampolten in Mozambique). Bolts makes ‘contracts’ with the Prater. It is an industrial, agricultural twelve European states, the USA and the Weißenbach (Styria). local leaders to secure the slave and ivory and cultural exhibition covering an area of Ottoman Empire meet for a conference on He fraternized with Kalamba Mukenge, trade. A small fortification is declared an 116,342 square metres. In an ‘ethnographic 15 November 1884. The African continent is king of the Bashilange in 1881. Kalamba Austrian colony. village’, typical Danube monarchy farm­ divided into colonies. saw his ‘blood brother’ Wissmann as an houses are inhabited by locals. The oriental ally against numerous enemies in the 1778 quarter and the Japanese garden are among 1884 / 85 region. The Austrian East India trading company in its sensations. You can buy exotic products King Leopold II of Belgium asks his relative Wissmann also worked for the Belgian king Trieste claims four Nicobar Islands, which in the bazaars and visitors from all over the Emperor Franz Joseph I to subscribe for for several years. He crossed Africa from the are declared Austrian Crown Colonies. world meet in the restaurants and cafés. Congo shares. The latter rejects this. Congo to the Zambezi estuary. Denmark lodges a protest. Another base is Wissmann dies in 1905, and three years opened in Mangalore (India). 1880 1885– 87 later a monument is erected in his honour. ‘Scamble for Africa’ Oscar Baumann, an Austrian Africa 1781 The colonization of the African continent researcher, ethnologist, philosopher, 1922 Portugal reconquers the territory along reaches its peak. geographer and cartographer, takes part Richard Nikolaus Graf Coudenhove-Kalergi, Delagoa Bay. Austria’s efforts on the Nicobar Austria-Hungary refrains from territorial in the Austrian Congo expedition. In 1886, writer, philosopher, and politician, publishes Islands end unsuccessfully in 1784. acquisitions and instead emphasizes its he spends a few months in Stanley Falls, the article ‘Pan-Europe. A Proposal’ in the striving for free trade and ‘civilisation’. as he has to stay behind from the Austrian newspapers ‘Berliner Zeitung’, and in the 1850 expedition for health reasons. He is in Austrian ‘Neuen Freie Presse‘. Emperor Franz Joseph I establishes an 1881 contact with Tippu-Tip, a notorious Swahili- He develops the first ideas for a Pan- honorary consulate in Khartoum (Egyptian 23-year-old Crown Prince Rudolf travels Arab slave and ivory trader. European Union, an association of European Sudan) to trade with Central Africa and on the Nile. He initiates an ethnographic Baumann succeeds in mapping the Congo countries. The respective colonies and Abyssinia (today Ethiopia and Eritrea). encyclopaedia on the Danube Monarchy River for the first time. These and his future mandated territories are included. 18-year-old Archduke Ferdinand and promotes an expedition to East Africa. cartographic and ethnological records Maximilian, later Emperor Maximilian Ernest Kallina, lieutenant in the Austro- support the rapid economic development of 1923 of Mexico, goes on a tour of the Aegean. Hungarian army, joins the Upper Congo the African continent. His book ‘Pan-Europe’ is published in Subsequently, he travels around the Study Committee (Comité d’études du several languages within a few years. The Mediterranean, inspires Austria’s first Haut-Congo), which is initiated by 1892 association of the countries is to take place circumnavigation of the world and visits Leopold II in 1878 to study the Upper 29-year-old Archduke Franz Ferdinand in several stages up to the establishment of Brazil’s tropical world. Congo. Its objectives are scientific and and later heir to the throne embarks the ‘United States of Europe’. Entrepreneurs 44 45 support the plan that accepts the colonial 1945–55 1960 –64 the School of Arts and Crafts in Graz. world order. Austria is occupied by Allied forces. Austria takes part in the Congo mission. Alfred Liyolo attends the School of Arts and The UN operation in Congo (ONUC), from Crafts at Ortweinplatz. He marries a woman 1924 May 15, 1955 July 1960 to June 1964, is a peacekeeping from Styria. The journal ‘Paneuropa’ is founded. Austria’s full independence is restored mission. In autumn 1960, an Austrian through the Austrian State Treaty. medical contingent is sent, on 16 December 1965 1926 1960 it is arrested in Bukavu by the Liyolo becomes the first student of the The first Pan-European Congress is held in December 14, 1955 Congolese and subsequently freed by sculptor Wander Bertoni at the Academy of Vienna from 3 to 6 October 1926. There are Neutral Austria is admitted to the United Nigerian UN troops by force. Applied Arts (today: University of Applied 2,000 participants from 24 countries. Nations. The Austrian government hopes Arts) in Vienna. In the 1920s, resistance against colonial for protection and security as well as to be 1960ies politics forms in the environment of the heard worldwide. Important UN conferences are held in 1966/67 Communist Party of Austria. Vienna, including the Conference on the In 1966 Vienna becomes the home of the 1957 Codification of International Law Agree- United Nations Industrial Development 1929 Vienna becomes the home of the Inter­ ments (1961), Space Conference (1963) and Organization (UNIDO). The ethnologist and theologian Paul national Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). the Conference on International Contract The Austrian federal government under Schebesta, who was sent to Mozambique as Law (1968 / 69). Josef Klaus, a one-party government of the a missionary as early as 1911, undertakes 1959 ÖVP, offers the United Nations to build a extensive research trips to Central Africa Austria’s Permanent Representative to 1962 centre hosting the United Nations Office in (then Belgian Congo). In the north-east the UN, Ambassador Franz Matsch, is Bishop Josef Schoiswohl founds the Afro- Vienna. (Ituri) of today’s Democratic Republic of unanimously elected Chairman of the Asian Institute in Graz. At the 30th session of the Styrian state Congo, he spends most of his time with Political Commission of the General parliament, a budget of 105,000 Austrian the Bambuti (‘pygmies), whose customs Assembly and of the UN Committee for the 1963 schillings is approved under the heading of and world of faith he explores on four Peaceful Use of Space Research. During the course of educational ‘Promotion of Underdeveloped Countries’ expeditions (1929, 1934 / 35, 1949 / 50, The Afro-Asian Institutes in Vienna is cooperation, a group of Congolese comes to in order to pay costs for the Congolese 1954). Works collected by him were later founded by cardinal Franz König. The Afro- Styria to study. students in Graz: MP Dr Moser comments brought to the Weltmuseum (Museum Asian Institutes in Vienna (and from 1962 They spend the summer in Leibnitz (South that the economic future of the country of Ethnology) in Vienna. Between his in Graz) offer organisational and financial Styria), where they learn German. Among [Austria] depends on efforts also being expeditions, he teaches at the Mission support for students from non-European them is Alfred Liyolo, a young sculptor from made to reach these markets in good time. House of St. Gabriel, and at the Hochschule countries. They are communication, Leopoldville. für Welthandel (University of World Trade), education and information centres Kurt Jungwirth, the later Styrian cultural 1970 today’s Vienna University of Economics and for development issues, and places of politician and Deputy Governor of Styria, Austria applies for a seat in the UN Security Business. intercultural dialogue. interprets and takes care of them. Council under Chancellor Bruno Kreisky, who pursues an active policy of neutrality. 1930 / 40ies December 14, 1960 1963–65 The artist Liyolo meets Congolese President During the period of National Socialism, Austria votes for the fiercely debated Austria is represented in the United Nations Mobutu in Vienna, who motivates him to hopes emerge for a revision of the existing ‘Declaration on the Granting of Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) help build the country. Liyolo returns to colonial order; plans for a German ‘Central Independence to Colonial Countries as it is from 1976 to 1978 and from 1982 to Congo to teach at the Académie des Beaux- Africa’ are considered. and Peoples’, a resolution of the General 1984. Arts de Kinshasa. About 60 Africans from North and Assembly of the United Nations. Liyolo receives important commissions French West Africa are imprisoned in the 1964 under Mobutu to support the young state’s Mauthausen concentration camp, many of 1960–62 Some of the group move to Brussels. The need for representation. them are murdered. Austria is represented in the UN others attend the agricultural college On Liyolo’s initiative, a request from the Commission on Human Rights, as it is from in Silberberg, the Montan University in DRC is addressed to the Austrian Ministry of 1964–79, and from 1985–87. Leoben, the University of Technology and Education: A sculptor and a ceramist are to 46 47 be sent to the Académie des Beaux-Arts de and shows solidarity towards developing 1983–87 2000 Kinshasa to train local young people. countries. As a further building complex of UNO The art association BAODO is founded City, the Austria Center Vienna, which has in Graz by the artist Veronika Dreier in 1971 1976 been planned right from the start of the collaboration with the NGO Verein Zebra. Kurt Waldheim becomes Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim is re-elected as Secretary- overall project, is built next to the Vienna It runs the NIL, art space and café, an of the United Nations. Austria’s commitment General of the United Nation and takes and International Centre between 1983 and intercultural communication and cultural to the UN contributes significantly to Kurt takes up his second term of office. 1987. It is Austria’s largest congress centre, centre for encounters and exchange with Waldheim’s appointment as Secretary- where all kinds of events are held. artists from Sierra Leone, Senegal, Gambia, General of the United Nations. 1979 Mali, Togo, Cameroon, Congo, Angola, and The Vienna International Centre (VIC; 1990 / 91 Nigeria. 1972 also: UNO City) in Donaupark is opened Austria is once again elected as a non- The doctor and medical anthropologist and handed over to the United Nations and permanent member of the Security Council. 2001 Armin Prinz embarks on extensive travel, the IAEA. The VIC was built according to The African Centre ‘Chiala’Afriqas’ (since research and collection activities on the the plans of the Austrian architect Johann 1991 2012: Chiala) is founded by Kamdem Mou African continent. He explores mainly the Staber. The VIC is handed over to the The artist Peter Weihs returns to Austria due Poh à Hom in Graz. Chiala is a place of north-east of Congo (with the Azande), also organisations for 99 years at a symbolic to riots in Kinshasa. encounter and mutual exchange between the Sudan and the Central African Republic. rent of 1 Austrian schilling (7 cents) per people with and without migration The ceramic artist Peter Weihs goes to year. The Vienna International Centre thus 1995 experience. Kinshasa and assumes his post at the becomes the third UN headquarters (after The Graz Municipal Council resolves to Today’s association actively promotes art Académie. New York and Geneva). establish an Advisory Council for Foreigners and culture with a focus on Africa and More than 4,000 employees from more (today: Migrants Advisory Council of the cultural work. The ‘Chiala Africa Festival’ 1973 than 100 countries work for the various City of Graz), a political interest group for in Graz is organized once a year. ‘Chiala’ The sculptor Oswald Stimm follows him. international organisations. About one third migrants from non-EU countries. means ‘main square’ in the language of the Weihs’ und Stimm’s classes in Kinshasa of them are Austrians. R’hom à Hom (Western Cameroon). are also attended by students from other The operating costs of the centre of about 1996 Barbara Plankensteiner and Bogumil African countries, such as from Chad, from 22 million euros per year are paid by the Works by Chéri Samba are exhibited in Jewsiewick curate the exhibition Views / Congo-Brazzaville and Angola. organisations themselves. According to Inclusion : Exclusion – Art in the Age of Opinions. Paintings from Congo 1990–2000 The sculptor Makala Mbuta and the official figures, around 360 million euros Postcolonialism and Global Migration in the in the Museum of Ethnology (today: ceramist Magwaia Samba come to Austria per year flow into the Austrian economy frame of steirischer herbst festival in Graz. Weltmuseum) in Vienna. On this occasion, on a scholarship. The idea is that they in the form of administrative expenses, A solo exhibition of Chéri Samba’s they examine and compare works by should replace the two Austrian professors purchase of office supplies and equipment, silkscreen edition is shown at Galerie & painters (and one woman painter) from in Kinshasa after a period of two years. as well as expenses of staff and conference Edition Artelier Graz. [→ pp. 54–57] Kinshasa, Lubumbashi and Bunia that were Makala Mbuta, a student of Liyolo, studies delegates. created within a decade. with Wander Bertoni at the University of 1999 Applied Arts in Vienna. He undertakes 1981 Armin Prinz founds the ‘Austrian 2002 numerous educational trips through Europe Waldheim’s application for a third term is Ethnomedicine Society’. In addition to On the occasion of the travel medicine and studies works by Fritz Wotruba, Henry rejected in 1981 following a veto by China. popular paintings from Congo, Tingatinga conferences at the airport in Vienna- Moore and Jean Arp. art from Tanzania and Senegalese reverse Schwechat, Armin Prinz (being also a doctor 1982 glass painting, the collection includes at the medical centre of the airport) holds a 1973 / 74 Oswald Stimm returns to Vienna from objects, films, and slides providing first sales exhibition there. More will follow. Austria becomes an elected, non-permanent Kinshasa. He fears that he will lose touch insight into medical and nutritional Works by Congolese artists are shown twice member of the Security Council. These with the Austrian art scene. anthropological practices. on the invitation card: once a work by years see the crises in the Middle East, The African restaurant project ‘Teranga’ is Trésor Cherin (2006) and once one by Sam Cyprus, Zambia and Panama. started by Joachim Baur (Werkstadt Graz) Ilus (2008). Moreover, Prinz schedules sales Austria plays an active mediating role together with Bambo Sane and Salam Barry. exhibitions in the Josephinum and later in 48 49 the loft of the Wiesbauer company annually entrance, which is used as a kind of ‘digital 2018 before Christmas. picture frame’. The theatre adaption of ‘Tram 83’ premiers The doctor and artist Werner Horvath buys The exhibition translates the political at the Schauspielhaus Graz. his first ten works of Congolese art. situation in the Democratic Republic of In November, Mwanza Mujila is awarded The African Umbrella Association for Styria Congo directly into Austrian daily politics: the long-standing Peter Rosegger Literature is founded. in Chéri Cherin’s painting Démon-cratie, Prize of the State of Styria. Horvath pastes portraits of Austrian In 2018, 4,221 people born in African 2003 politicians over the heads of the Congolese countries and 2,969 with African citizenship Works by Tshibumba Kanda Matulu are rulers. are registered in Graz. Most of them come shown in the exhibition M_ARS – Art and Fiston Mwanza Mujila comes to Graz as a from Egypt, Nigeria and Ghana. Among War, in collaboration with ‘Graz 2003 – writer-in-residence. He initiates a writing them 65 Congolese. European Capital of Culture’. project with inmates of the prisons of Graz- Currently about 1,252 people of African Karlau and Garsten. origin living in Graz hold Austrian 2004 citizenship. Children born in Austria to The German Embassy in Kinshasa facilitates 2010 African parents are not included in the the reunion of descendants of Kalamba Werner Horvath organises 50 Years of statistics. Mukenge and Hermann von Wissmann in Independence. Congo in Images, an exhibition Weißenbach. of political art at Puchenau Castle and at On the occasion of the centenary of Jägermayrhof in Linz together Wissmann’s death, it is planned to revive the with Armin Prinz. relationships between the areas travelled by Fiston Mwanza Mujila starts to cooperate Wissmann and the region in Styria. with the literary magazines ‘Lichtungen’ and ‘Manuskripte’ on a regular basis. 2007 On a lawn below the Wissmann estate in Educational institutions in the Upper Weißenbach, the Park Bashilange opens, Styrian Enns Valley take the initiative for a which features wooden artworks created by school project in the Democratic Republic the Luba people. of Congo. The association ‘Action Bridge to Congo [ABC]’ is founded. In 2007, the 2014 young Austrian people travel to Congo. ‘Tram 83’ by Fiston Mwanza Mujila is A large number of regional activities are published in its original language French. organised to support the school project in Mikalayi. The project is well known among 2015 large sections of the population and has Fiston Mwanza Mujila starts teaching met with a very positive response, not only African literature at the University of Graz. from school students but also from many teachers. 2016 The Afro-Asian Institute (AAI) in Vienna is 2009 closed due to financial difficulties. On the occasion of ‘Linz 2009 – European ‘Tram 83’ is published in German. The Capital of Culture’, Werner Horvath acclaimed novel is translated into several presents 100 paintings from Congo in languages. an exhibition titled We Are Congo in the ‘Kunstpalast’, some of them as originals but most of them on a navigation device at the 50 51 Chéri Samba Une médecine de brousse Silkscreen on Eurodecor 445 g Print formats: 90 × 138.5, 110.5, 127.5 cm Edition of 15 and V artist’s prints, numbered and signed Ed.: Edition Artelier Graz 1996

First Aid for Mpiki Efficient Treatment of Apollo

A Bush Medicine Man in the background: Man in the background: ‘Africa is still an empty blackboard on which the West ‘Dear son-in-law, you must take care of your pants projects its fears and fantasies and its desire for and your underpants, for I have no right to see your ‘It’s a shame to have an affair with such a young man! ‘Why didn’t you help yourself? exoticism. According to the West, Africa will remain cock. Respect obliges!’ What are you guys doing? It looks like you’re having an affair with another man. virgin, pre-rational, tribal, ethnic, rural and static.’ Are you fighting or what? How much does he pay you? If he gives you more ‘Hey, you’re wearing panties? — You’re giving my (Marilyn Marlin, Director, South African National How’d you get into a fight? How did it start? money, what are you going to do worse next? You are daughter pain, unbelievable!!’ Gallery, Cape Town, in: exhib.-cat. Container 96, Is that your manners?’ saying, my friend, my friend, but what kind of friend? Copenhagen 1996) A European friendship? Woman: Look at yourself—get up quickly, I’m getting angry.’ ‘Une médecine de brousse has been a recurring ‘Don’t be angry, my love. Man on the floor: theme of Samba over the years. The images are like a He is a friend of yours, he’s suffering from Apollo double mirror—two reactions: Exotic to the West, ter- (note: an eye disease), so he came to me to heal him ‘Don‘t be angry, have mercy on me. I’m very sick, I rifying to the shamefaced Africans. Compare the with my milk. can’t see.’ reactions: A lifelong misunderstanding, except for The man told me that “mother’s milk” is a good medi- Samba! This guy catches us off guard: He follows you cine against Apollo. What have I done wrong?’ (Translation from Lingala: Fiston Mwanza Mujila) through the revolving door and comes out first!’ (J. M. Patras, September 1996)

52 53 The Clyster

Chéri Samba with Martin Kippenberger (in the middle) at Artelier Contemporary Graz, 1996 54 55 Accompanying programme Austrians in the ‘Heart of Darkness’ Programme focus Tue., 24.01.2019, 7 pm at Schauspielhaus Graz, Next Liberty Long Night of Museums Lecture by Prof. Walter Sauer Sat., 6.10., from 6.30 pm Fri., 21.09. Short guided tours African film Tram83 Film weekend at Kiz Royalkino Premiere at Schauspielhaus Graz, „My Way from Congo to Europe – between January 2019 further performances: 27.09., resistance, migration and exile“ 02.10., 15.10. and 19.10. Tue., 16.10., 7 pm Curator's tours Reading and discussion with Fri., 05.10., 3 pm Fri., 19.10. Emmanuel Mbolela and Alexander Behr Austria and Congo Freedom Radio with Barbara Steiner Premiere at Next Liberty, Exhibition talk Sun., 14.10., 11 am further performances: 14.11., 15.11. and Sat., 20.10., 3 pm with Günther Holler-Schuster 16.11. with Kamdem Mou Poh à Hom and Sun., 25.11., 11 am Monika Holzer-Kernbichler with Günther Holler-Schuster Fri., 23.11. Sun., 20.01.2019, 11 am Die Revolution frisst ihre Kinder Students’ day with Günther Holler-Schuster Premiere at Schauspielhaus Graz, Wed., 28.11., 2–7 pm Fri., 25.01.2019, 3 pm further performances: 28.11., 30.11. and Austria and Congo 05.12. Tours through African Graz with Barbara Steiner with Kamdem Mou Poh à Hom (Chiala) 30.11. and 01.12. Thu., 25.10., 2 pm Exercises in the contemplation of If you don’t know – go know. ‘African Graz’ in the frame of KoOgle, artworks Schauspielhaus Graz meeting point: Kunsthaus Foyer with Barbara Steiner Programme focus at Schauspielhaus Graz Thu., 08.11., 4.30 pm Sun., 07.10., 11 am with performances, exhibition, films and in the frame of Congo Wirbel, on the bar scenes by Moke discussions meeting point: Kunsthaus Foyer Sun., 04.11., 11 am Thu., 10.12., 4.30 pm on the astronaut paintings by International Human Rights Day, Monsengo Shula Further informations at meeting point: Chiala Sun., 02.12., 11 am www.kunsthausgraz.at on the city models by Bodys Isek Kingelez Congo Wirbel Tue., 06.11. till Sun., 11.11. KoOgle Space04, foyer, Space03, Needle Thu., 29.11., 4 pm Extensive programme with workshops to Samburu Beads with Peninah Lesorogol participate, to try one’s hand and think Thu., 20.12., 4 pm further! African cooking with Fatou Kamdem Further informations at: www.bigwirbel.at Thu., 31.01.2019, 4 pm African percussion with Chiala ‘Lichtungen’ presents: Art and Poetry from Congo Tue., 04.12., 7 pm with Fiston Mwanza Mujila, Lisette Lombé, Patrick Dunst and Christian Pollheimer 56 57 Imprint Kunsthaus Graz Publication N. Lackner, UMJ: pp. 16, 17, 23–25, 30, 31, 33, 37 Universalmuseum Joanneum Neue Galerie Graz, UMJ: p. 3 This exhibition guide is published on the occasion of Lendkai 1, 8020 Graz Editors Barbara Steiner: pp. 10, 34 T +43 (0)316/8017-9200 Barbara Steiner, Günther Holler-Schuster Courtesy Verein VMK: p. 12 Congo Stars [email protected] Werkstadt Graz: p. 4 Assistant Editor and Research www.kunsthausgraz.at Alexandra Trost An exhibition of Kunsthaus Graz and Kunsthalle Tübingen Kunsthaus Graz Translation Head textkultur – Mag. Otmar Lichtenwörther In cooperation with the Royal Museum for Central Barbara Steiner Proof Reading Africa in Tervuren, the Kunsthalle Tübingen, the Karin Buol-Wischenau, Alexandra Trost Iwalewahaus in Bayreuth and PICHA in Lubumbashi Universalmuseum Joanneum Board Graphic Design and Image Editing In the frame of steirischer herbst Alexia Getzinger Karin Buol-Wischenau Wolfgang Muchitsch Print Kunsthaus Graz Universitätsdruckerei Klampfer, St. Ruprecht/Raab September 22, 2018 to January 27, 2019 Paper Exhibition Kunsthalle Tübingen Invercote G, 240g/m²

March 9 to July 1, 2019 Recycling Offset Cyc, 90g/m² Curators Sammy Baloji, Bambi Ceuppens, Günther Holler- Fonts Schuster, Fiston Mwanza Mujila und Barbara Steiner Tram Joanneum, ITC Charter Com The Kunsthaus is a joint venture between the Province of Styria and the City of Graz within the Assistent Curator Printed in Austria context of the Universalmuseum Joanneum. Alexandra Trost published by

Registrars Universalmuseum­ Joanneum GmbH Kindly supported by Astrid Mönnich, Magdalena Muner ISBN 978-3-903179-10-3 Stadt Graz Land Steiermark Exhibition Design The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publica- Rainer Stadlbauer tion in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie; detailed For the generous support of this project, Kunsthaus Exhibition Graphics bibliographic data is available on the Internet at Graz would like to thank: Kay Bachmann, Michael Posch http://dnb.ddb.de. Construction Team All rights reserved. Robert Bodlos, David Bosin, Ivan Drlje, Fabian © 2018 Kunsthaus Graz, Universalmuseum Joanneum Egger, Helmut Fuchs, Klaus Fuchs, Ivan Gorickić , © for the printed texts by the authors, translators or Irmgard Knechtl, Bernd Klinger, Peter Koren, Andreas their estates and the general sponsors Lindbichler, Markus Malisniak, Klaus Riegler, Peter © for the reproduced works by the lenders, artists or Semlitsch, Georg Sperl, Erich Waisch their estates Mit Leicht Metallbau Restoration/Conservation © photos: Paul-Bernhard Eipper, Anna Kozorovicka, Melitta Anthologie des Sculpteurs et Peintres Zaïrois Schmiedel Contemporains, ed. by Bamba Ndombasi Kufimba, Musangi Ntemo, Éditions Nathan, Paris 1987, pp. 32, Educational Team 33: pp. 7, 9 Funded by the TURN Fund of the German Federal Marta Binder, Wanda Deutsch, Anna Döcker, Christof Archive Werner Horvath: p. 13 Cultural Foundation Elpons, Gabriele Gmeiner, Monika Holzer-Kernbichler, Archive Armin Prinz: pp. 14, 18, 21, 26–29 Elisabeth Keler, Romana Schwarzenberger, Barbara Archive Oswald Stimm: p. 32 Thaler, Antonia Veitschegger, Markus Waitschacher Archive Peter Weihs: p. 35 BAODO: p. 5 Chiala: pp. 40, 41 Galerie Artelier Contemporary, Graz: pp. 52–55 © by Guenter Floeck: p. 36 Fritz Kern, Courtesy ÖNB Wien, signature FO505130/08/19: p. 6

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