The International Celebration of Blasphemy and the Sacred

On Thursday, 12 September, Lisette Mbuku Kimpala, Matthieu Kasiama Kilapi and Ced'art Tamasala Kahungu of the Congolese artist collective CATPC, artist and filmmaker Renzo Martens, and curator and Jan van Eyck director Hicham Khalidi will gather at the Jan van Eyck Academie to talk about their exhibition created for the Dutch pavilion at the 60th International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia, 2024, commissioned by the Mondriaan Fund. 

The International Celebration of Blasphemy and the Sacred is an exhibition by the Cercle d'Art des Travailleurs de Plantation Congolaise (CATPC) in collaboration with artist Renzo Martens and curator Hicham Khalidi. It is part of CATPC's endeavour to reclaim exhausted plantation lands and to regenerate and restore the Sacred Forest.

The exhibition will be on show until 24 November 2024 at the Rietveld Pavilion in Venice and simultaneously in the White Cube in Lusanga, Democratic Republic of Congo. By twinning the White Cube (the previously established museum by Martens and CATPC) in Lusanga with the Rietveld Pavilion in Venice a level playing field has been created by and for CATPC. At their home base as well as on a global stage they tell their stories in their own language and artistic idiom; stories that speak of the West’s devastating impact on the Global South and give presence to plantation ancestors who died as enslaved people. Others intimate a brighter future in which the community decides its own fate. Guided by “luyalu”, the vital life force that connects humans to the Earth and which is expressed through art, the collective creates contemporary power objects, now presented at the 60th Biennale. A next step in CATPC's broader mission of spiritual, ethical and economic reckoning.

Now that the Biennale has been open for several months, the key actors will look back on their experiences in the run-up to and the opening of the exhibition and the many positive feedbacks received. They will also look ahead to the future; to the feature film by Renzo Martens and CATPC that is in development for the BBC and to the future plans of the collective.

Anyone with an interest in the extraordinary story of CATPC and anyone who has perhaps already visited the Biennale, or who would still like to travel to Venice, is very welcome to attend this evening. Due to the international interest and composition of the guests, the main language is English.

Admission is free, but please register by filling in this form.