Congo Stars (Supplement)
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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 Atelier haus 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 (Kunst halle) 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-Wischena u) 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, Austri a.