Plantations and Museums
by CATPC and Renzo Martens
30 sept. from 2pm to 6pm
1st oct. from 10am to 6pm
2 oct. from 10am to 6pm
3 oct. from 10am to 6pm
4 oct. from 10am to 6pm
5 oct. from 10am to 6pm
6 oct. from 10am to 6pm
7 oct. from 10am to 6pm
8 oct. from 10am to 6pm
9 oct. from 10am to 6pm
Caserne El Attarine
Human Activities and Pieter van Huystee Film.
The series is a co-production of Pieter van Huystee Film and VPRO, in collaboration with CATPC and Human Activities, supported by the NPO-fund.
In this documentary series, CATPC members Matthieu Kasama and Cedart Tamasala travel to the battleground of the Pende rebellion and to the museum that holds the “Diviner’s Figure representing Belgian colonial officer Maximilien Balot” (1931) in the United States. They interview key experts on this Congolese sculpture and postcolonial discourse, such as Ariella Aïsha Azoulay (Brown University) and Simon Gikandi (Princeton University).
The conversations unravel the hidden relations between plantations in the Global South (from where profits were extracted to build museums) and the museums in the Global North (where art from the plantations is held and academic scholarship is funded). The series leads up to the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (VMFA), where Kasiama and Tamasala make a claim for the return of the sculpture to Lusanga.
Following Plantations and Museums and VMFA’s soft refusal to give the sculpture for a temporary loan, CATPC created the Balot NFT in order to reclaim both their heritage and land.
>> Plantations and Museums - 6 videos of 7 to 9 min.30 to be discovered at el Attarine Barracks
Part 1: The Revolt – 7:02 min
Part 2: The Sculpture – 7:48 min
Part 3: The Plunder – 7:25 min
Part 4: The Museum – 6:52 min
Part 5: The Collector – 7:53 min
Part 6: The Return – 9:26 min
