CATPC, an

acronym An acronym is a word or name formed from the initial components of a longer name or phrase. Acronyms are usually formed from the initial letters of words, as in ''NATO'' (''North Atlantic Treaty Organization''), but sometimes use syllables, as ...

for ‘Cercle d’Art des Travailleurs de Plantation Congolaise’ in French translates to ‘Congolese Plantation Workers Art League’ in English. Founded in 2014 by a group of Congolese plantation workers in collaboration with Congolese environmental

activist Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range fro ...

and founder of

Greenpeace Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning network, founded in Canada in 1971 by Irving Stowe and Dorothy Stowe, immigrant environmental activists from the United States. Greenpeace states its goal is to "ensure the ability of the Earth t ...

Congo René Ngongo, CATPC operates as an

art cooperative An artist cooperative (also co-operative or co-op) is an autonomous visual arts organization, enterprise, or association jointly owned and democratically controlled by its members. Artist cooperatives are legal entities organized as non-capital st ...

. CATPC is based in Lusanga, formerly known as

Leverville Lusanga (formerly Leverville) is a town in Kwilu province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is at the confluence of the Kwenge and Kwilu rivers. The town is served by a small airport (IATA Code: LUS). In the colonial era the town was ...

Unilever Unilever plc is a British multinational consumer goods company with headquarters in London, England. Unilever products include food, condiments, bottled water, baby food, soft drink, ice cream, instant coffee, cleaning agents, energy drink, t ...

’s first plantation in the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

. In 2017, CATPC built an art center named White Cube Lusanga. CATPC specializes in

clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4). Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay par ...

sculptures Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

, reproduced in Europe using materials such as cacao and

palm oil Palm oil is an edible vegetable oil derived from the mesocarp (reddish pulp) of the fruit of the oil palms. The oil is used in food manufacturing, in beauty products, and as biofuel. Palm oil accounted for about 33% of global oils produced from ...

, common products derived from

plantations A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...

. CATPC is critical of the

plantation system A plantation economy is an economy based on agricultural mass production, usually of a few commodity crops, grown on large farms worked by laborers or slaves. The properties are called plantations. Plantation economies rely on the export of cash ...

, an extractive and exploitative colonial construct with dangerous labor conditions, low wages, and environmental devastation among its faults. Many museums have been or are still funded by companies like

that own or depend on plantation labor. CATPC’s art attempts to expose this exploitative system and bring about positive economic, social and ecological change to their own

plantation A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...

and community. The

art collective An artist collective is an initiative that is the result of a group of artists working together, usually under their own management, towards shared aims. The aims of an artist collective can include almost anything that is relevant to the needs ...

uses income generated from

exhibitions An exhibition, in the most general sense, is an organized presentation and display of a selection of items. In practice, exhibitions usually occur within a cultural or educational setting such as a museum, art gallery An art gallery is a roo ...

and

sales Sales are activities related to selling or the number of goods sold in a given targeted time period. The delivery of a service for a cost is also considered a sale. The seller, or the provider of the goods or services, completes a sale in r ...

of their artworks to buy back and restore their land using the principles of

agroforestry Agroforestry is a land use management system in which trees or shrubs are grown around or among crops or pastureland. Trees produce a wide range of useful and marketable products from fruits/nuts, medicines, wood products, etc. This intentional ...

. The overarching goal is to develop a regenerative model where artistic expression provides the community of Lusanga with land ownership and

sustainable Specific definitions of sustainability are difficult to agree on and have varied in the literature and over time. The concept of sustainability can be used to guide decisions at the global, national, and individual levels (e.g. sustainable livin ...

livelihoods. CATPC calls this the "post-plantation”, since it provides a

alternative to the prevalence of monoculture plantations. Whereas a traditional plantation is based on extracting one crop (

in the case of

) and leaving the land depleted while exporting the crop to other countries, everything grown in CATPC’s post-plantation goes back to the community and restores the land. CATPC’s sculptures have gained international recognition, with exhibitions at renowned venues including

SculptureCenter SculptureCenter is a not-for-profit, contemporary art museum located in Long Island City, Queens, New York City. It was founded in 1928 as "The Clay Club" by Dorothea Denslow. In 2013, SculptureCentre attracted around 13,000 visitors. History Fou ...

, Kunsthal Charlottenborg Biennale, 22nd Biennial Sesc_Videobrasil, SCCA Tamale, KOW, Hayy Jameel,

EYE Filmmuseum Eye Filmmuseum is a film archive, museum, and cinema in Amsterdam that preserves and presents both Dutch and foreign films screened in the Netherlands. Location and history Eye Filmmuseum is located in the Overhoeks neighborhood of Amsterdam in t ...

, among others. CATPC, Renzo Martens and curator Hicham Khalidi, will represent the Netherlands at the

Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale (; it, La Biennale di Venezia) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy by the Biennale Foundation. The biennale has been organised every year since 1895, which makes it the oldest of ...

2024.

History

Origins

Established in August 2014, CATPC originated from a collaboration between plantation workers from three different plantations in the south of the

(DRC). They worked with

Kinshasa Kinshasa (; ; ln, Kinsásá), formerly Léopoldville ( nl, Leopoldstad), is the capital and largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Once a site of fishing and trading villages situated along the Congo River, Kinshasa is now one o ...

-based artists Michel Ekeba, Eléonore Hellio, and Mega Mingiedi to exchange ideas and develop the creation of critical art.

Members and collaborators

CATPC comprises 25 members: Djonga Bismar, Alphonse Bukumba, Irène Kanga, Muyaka Kapasa, Matthieu Kasiama, Jean Kawata, Huguette Kilembi, Mbuku Kimpala, Athanas Kindendi, ⁠Felicien Kisiata, Charles Leba, Philomène Lembusa, Richard Leta, Jérémie Mabiala, Plamedi Makongote, Blaise Mandefu, Daniel Manenga, Mirra Meya, Emery Muhamba, Tantine Mukundu, Olele Mulela, Daniel Muvunzi, Alvers Tamasala and Ced’art Tamasala. René Ngongo, who is based in

, is the president of CATPC. CATPC collaborates regularly with Human Activities, an art institute founded by Dutch artist Renzo Martens. Together, they founded the White Cube museum, organize

and

conferences A conference is a meeting of two or more experts to discuss and exchange opinions or new information about a particular topic. Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always decisions, are the main pu ...

and make

art Art is a diverse range of human activity, and resulting product, that involves creative or imaginative talent expressive of technical proficiency, beauty, emotional power, or conceptual ideas. There is no generally agreed definition of wha ...

. CATPC is represented by KOW, a gallery in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

The Matter of Critique conferences

In 2012, LIRCAEI (Lusanga International Research Centre on Art and Economic Inequality) and Human Activities organized a series of four international conferences titled “The Matter of Critique”. These conferences brought together academics, artists,

curators A curator (from la, cura, meaning "to take care") is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the parti ...

and CATPC members to engage in critical discussions covering a wide spectrum of activities in

Congo Congo or The Congo may refer to either of two countries that border the Congo River in central Africa: * Democratic Republic of the Congo, the larger country to the southeast, capital Kinshasa, formerly known as Zaire, sometimes referred to a ...

– from

society A society is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction, or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Socie ...

to the

economy An economy is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services. In general, it is defined as a social domain that emphasize the practices, discourses, and material expressions associated with the ...

. Notable speakers included art historian T.J. Demos, philosopher

Marcus Steinweg Marcus Steinweg (born 1971, in Koblenz) Marcus Steinweg is a German philosopher based in Berlin. His speciality is working between the fields of art and philosophy. He is an editor of the journal ''Inaesthetics''. Biography Steinweg has worked o ...

, activist René Ngongo, architect

Eyal Weizman Eyal Weizman MBE FBA (born 1970) is a British Israeli architect. He is the director of the research agency Forensic Architecture at Goldsmiths, University of London where he is Professor of Spatial and Visual Cultures and a founding director t ...

, economist Jérome Mumbanza,

curator A curator (from la, cura, meaning "to take care") is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the parti ...

Nina Möntmann,

anthropologist An anthropologist is a person engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropology is the study of aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms and ...

Katrien Pype, artist Emmanuel Botalatala, curator Ellen Blumenstein, and theorist

Ariella Azoulay Ariella Aïsha Azoulay ( he, אריאלה עאישה אזולאי; born Tel Aviv, 1962) is an author, art curator, filmmaker, and theorist of photography and visual culture. She is a professor of Modern Culture and Media and the Department of C ...

White Cube museum

In 2017, CATPC inaugurated the White Cube, the first museum on a

. The opening was accompanied by an exhibition titled “The Repatriation of the White Cube”. Designed by OMA, the architecture and

nomenclature Nomenclature (, ) is a system of names or terms, or the rules for forming these terms in a particular field of arts or sciences. The principles of naming vary from the relatively informal naming conventions, conventions of everyday speech to the i ...

draw on the modernist art historical tradition of white cube galleries and the privileges and

gatekeeping A gatekeeper is a person who controls access to something, for example via a city gate or bouncer, or more abstractly, controls who is granted access to a category or status. Gatekeepers assess who is "in or out", in the classic words of manage ...

associated with these types of institutions. By placing a white cube on a

, a site that has funded many popular museums in the Western art world (such as the

Tate Modern Tate Modern is an art gallery located in London. It houses the United Kingdom's national collection of international modern and contemporary art, and forms part of the Tate group together with Tate Britain, Tate Liverpool and Tate St Ives. It is ...

“Unilever Art Series”), CATPC and Human Activities claim to “prove that artistic critique on economic inequality can effectively reverse that inequality”. "Established as an apolitical space to sustain art’s timeless value, can a white cube still be a platform to address inequality in the art economy, or even an active agent to make timely social changes?" The White Cube museum, central to CATPC’s artistic and social initiatives, is complemented by various facilities, including a conference center, atelier for art creation, and

ecological farming Sustainable agriculture is farming in sustainable ways meeting society's present food and textile needs, without compromising the ability for current or future generations to meet their needs. It can be based on an understanding of ecosystem se ...

gardens and fields.

Dutch Pavilion of the Venice Biennale 2024

In April 2023, it was announced that CATPC, together with artist Renzo Martens and

Hicham Khalidi, will present a simultaneous and linked exhibition at the

Dutch Pavilion The Dutch pavilion houses the Netherlands's national representation during the Venice Biennale arts festivals. Background Organization and building The pavilion, designed by Ferdinand Boberg, was originally built in 1912. It was later ...

of the

and the White Cube in Lusanga, opening in April 2024. “The opportunity to now pair a white cube on a plantation with one at the summit of the art world allows for a direct look into these two worlds and into the inequalities between them.” - CATPC member Ced’art Tamasala.

List of works

CATPC is best known for their

chocolate Chocolate is a food made from roasted and ground cacao seed kernels that is available as a liquid, solid, or paste, either on its own or as a flavoring agent in other foods. Cacao has been consumed in some form since at least the Olmec civ ...

but has also ventured into

drawings Drawing is a form of Visual arts, visual art in which an artist uses instruments to mark paper or other two-dimensional surface. Drawing instruments include graphite pencils, pen and ink, various kinds of paints, inked brushes, colored pencils, ...

videos Video is an electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving visual media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, which were quickly replaced by cathode-ray tube (CRT) syste ...

, photographs and

textile Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not the ...

works. CATPC's sculptures include

portraits A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expressions are predominant. The intent is to display the likeness, personality, and even the mood of the person. For this re ...

and allegories. Their material, the

cocoa bean The cocoa bean (technically cocoa seed) or simply cocoa (), also called the cacao bean (technically cacao seed) or cacao (), is the dried and fully fermented seed of ''Theobroma cacao'', from which cocoa solids (a mixture of nonfat substances ...

, carries political connotations, including concerns for its controversial labor conditions and effect on the environment.

Sculptures

''Self Portrait without Clothes,'' Mbuku Kimpala, 2014 ''The Spirit of Palm Oil,'' Djonga Bismar, 2014 ''Self Portrait,'' Menenga Kibwila, 2014 ''Self Portrait,'' Djonga Bismar, 2014 ''Self Portrait,'' Emery Muhamba, 2014 ''The Art Collector,'' Jérémie Mabiala & Djonga Bismar, 2015 ''Poisonous Miracle,'' Thomas Leba, 2015 ''The Art Collector,'' Jeremie Mabiala & Djonga Bismar, 2015 ''A Man Is What the Head Is,'' Matthieu Kasiama, 2015 ''The Visionary,'' Djonga Bismar, 2015 ''We Who Are Here And You Who Have Come,'' Emery Muhamba & Mbuku Kimpala, 2015 ''A Lucky Day,'' Thomas Leba & Daniel Manenga, 2015 ''How My Grandfather Survived,'' Ced’art Tamasala, 2015 ''Forced Love,'' Irene Kanga, 2019 ''Forced Labo''r, Jean Kawata & Ced'art Tamasala, 2020 ''The Mad Art Collector'', Emery Muhamba, 2020 ''White Cube Lusanga,'' Jean Kawata & Ced'art Tamasala, 2020 ''Pende Vengeance 1931'', Richard Leta, 2021 ''Money is/and the Beast'', Muyaka Kapasa, 2021 ''Couple of Equality'', Mbuku Kimpala, 2021 ''Plantation Monoculture,'' Athanas Kindendie, 2022 ''White Cube Lusanga'', Ced’art Tamasala & Jean Kawata, 2023 ''Mvuyu Liberator'', Blaise Mandefu, 2023 ''Lady of Museums'', Mbuku Kimpala, 2023 ''Congo Massacre'', Muyaka Kasapa, 2023 ''Money Angel'', Philomène Lembusa, 2023 ''Fish Protector'', Daniel Mvunzi, 2023 ''Roots'', Irene Kanga, 2023 ''Polyculture Brain'', Athanas Kindendie & Charles Leba, 2023 ''Wonderful Birth'', Huguette Kilembi & Mirra Meya, 2023 ''Seedbed'', Muyaka Kapasa & Ced'art Tamasala, 2023 ''Plantation Master'', Olele Mulele Labamba, 2023 ''Crucifixion of the Art Collector'', Matthieu Kasiama & Ced'art Tamasala, 2023

Drawings and textile

''4 Coins Post Plantation'', Matthieu Kasiama, 2022 ''Untitled'', Ced'art Tamasala, 2023 ''Arts & Agriculture: Vision Future'', Matthieu Kasiama, 2022 ''Aveugle Visonnaire, Kifiameso ya kumuna na ntuala'', Matthieu Kasiama, 2022 ''Balot'', Ced’art Tamasala, 2022 ''Balot / Retour de la Violence'', Matthieu Kasiama, 2022 ''Chemin d’idées, Kukwisa ya bangindu'', Matthieu Kasiama, 2022 ''Esprit fâché de Balot, Esprit Colon'', Matthieu Kasiama, 2022 ''Féticheur ou démon du village'', Jean Kawata, 2016 ''L’exode des fournis noir'', Ced’art Tamasala, 2019 ''Mukuni Le Semeur'', Matthieu Kasiama, 2022 ''Pende Control Esprit Balot'', Matthieu Kasiama, 2022 ''Reservation Naturelle'', Matthieu Kasiama, 2022 ''Résistance'', Matthieu Kasiama, 2016 ''Résistance 2''. Plantation Monoculture, Matthieu Kasiama, 2022 ''Untitled'', Leba Maboki, 2018 ''Voleur piégé'', Mao Kingunza, 2016 ''Africa Vide, Europe Plein'', CATPC, 2021 ''Résistant déporté et incarcéré (Kimbangu) / Resistance fighter deported and incarcerated (Kimbangu)'', Mbuku Kimpala, Ced'art Tamasala and Jérémie Mabiala / CATPC, 2022 ''Résistant déporté et incarcéré (Les révoltés de Kilamba) / Resistance fighter deported and incarcerated (The revolts of Kilamba)'', Mbuku Kimpala, Ced'art Tamasala and Jérémie Mabiala / CATPC, 2022 ''Résistant déporté et incarcéré (Lumumba) / Resistance fighter deported and incarcerated (Lumumba)'', Mbuku Kimpala, Ced'art Tamasala and Jérémie Mabiala / CATPC, 2022

Balot NFT

In 2022, CATPC created an

NFT A non-fungible token (NFT) is a unique digital identifier that cannot be copied, substituted, or subdivided, that is recorded in a blockchain, and that is used to certify authenticity and ownership. The ownership of an NFT is recorded in the ...

(non-fungible token) of a sculpture created by their Pende ancestors. The sculpture depicts the Belgian officer Maximilien Balot and was created during the Pende rebellion of

1931 Events January * January 2 – South Dakota native Ernest Lawrence invents the cyclotron, used to accelerate particles to study nuclear physics. * January 4 – German pilot Elly Beinhorn begins her flight to Africa. * January 22 – Sir I ...

, following rape and other crimes committed by Belgian colonial officials. Carved in

wood Wood is a porous and fibrous structural tissue found in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulose fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin th ...

, it was most likely created in order to control Balot's spirit after he was beheaded. The sculpture is now part of the

Virginia Museum of Fine Arts The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, or VMFA, is an art museum in Richmond, Virginia, United States, which opened in 1936. The museum is owned and operated by the Commonwealth of Virginia. Private donations, endowments, and funds are used for the su ...

(VMFA)’s African art collection in

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

. From CATPC’s perspective, “The lost item, the Balot sculpture, was made for the main purpose, to control the spirit of dead Balot, which could wander and harm the Pende or their surroundings. Currently, what role does he play?”. The making of the

sparked a

controversy Controversy is a state of prolonged public dispute or debate, usually concerning a matter of conflicting opinion or point of view. The word was coined from the Latin ''controversia'', as a composite of ''controversus'' – "turned in an opposite d ...

in the press, addressing concerns about CATPC’s loan requests and their usage of the

VMFA The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, or VMFA, is an art museum in Richmond, Virginia, United States, which opened in 1936. The museum is owned and operated by the Commonwealth of Virginia. Private donations, endowments, and funds are used for the s ...

’s photograph of the Balot sculpture. In Daniel Boffey's The Guardian article, a VMFA spokesperson was quoted for saying that the “image was lifted directly from the museum’s website without permission, which violates our open access policy and is unacceptable and unprofessional”. Renzo Martens, collaborator on the project, said they, “downloaded the image from the internet, as there is no other material made available by the VMFA”. “We have the strong impression that they are not ready to lend it to us; it can be lent to a museum in Switzerland or elsewhere, but not to a museum in the plantation for the resistance against which, among other things, it was designed and sculpted.” - Ced’art Tamasala (CATPC) In 2024, CATPC’s loan request to display the sculpture at the White Cube in Lusanga, DRC, as part of the

was accepted.

Video and film

''Plantations and Museums'', CATPC, 2021 This work is a 6-channel video following Matthieu Kasiama and Ced’art Tamasala, CATPC members, as they embark on a quest to recover the Balot sculpture, which their community lost decades ago and which they hope to return to Lusanga. The two artists speak with

postcolonial Postcolonialism is the critical academic study of the cultural, political and economic legacy of colonialism and imperialism, focusing on the impact of human control and exploitation of colonized people and their lands. More specifically, it is a ...

specialists, uncover hidden ties between

and museums and pay a visit to the collector who purchased the sculpture in 1972, subsequently selling it to the Virginia Museum. Kasiama and Tamasala appear at the museum, asking to loan the sculpture to present in their own museum. ''White Cube'', featuring CATPC, 2020 The documentary film ''White Cube'' (2020), directed by Renzo Martens, offers an in-depth portrayal of CATPC’s journey, capturing their artistic endeavors, the construction of the museum and their land purchasing efforts. The films shows how CATPC and Martens seek to return the proceeds of the plantation workers' labor by asking major artists to donate artworks to a new plantation art museum as recompense for having received Unilever patronage through the

. The artist

Carsten Höller Carsten Höller (born December 1961) is a German artist. He lives and works in Stockholm, Sweden.Alice Rawsthorn (January 2012)"Cliff Hanger - The Ghanaian home of artists Carsten Höller and Marcel Odenbach goes above—and beyond" ''W Magazi ...

is one of the artists that donated.

Publications and merchandise

In 2017, a book titled ''Cercle d'art des travailleurs de plantation congolaise'', edited by Els Roelandt and Eva Barois De Caevel, was published by Sternberg Press. The book provides an initial report on CATPC's activities, portraying the uniqueness of its members and partner institutions, aiming to challenge