| I am a Besi Bulenge, part of the Bambunda ethnic group. The Besi Bulenge are farming people who are very gentle and very superstitious. |  |
Bodys Isek Kingelez responds to questions by André Magnin.
I am a Besi Bulenge, part of the Bambunda ethnic group. The Besi Bulenge are farming people who are very gentle and very superstitious. I am the first and only Besi Bulenge to have received an education, thus I have moved ahead in the most distant climes. It is extraordinary—I know what I’m saying—I’ve examined it under a magnifying glass, good and hard. I was born lucky.
In 1970, I took the Congo River to Kinshasa. I didn’t know anyone there. I studied at the university in the morning and taught in the afternoon to pay for my studies. My idea was to become a magistrate, but I changed my mind. I realized I was too strict and impartial to judge people suitably, as a magistrate should. So I ended up choosing teaching. It seemed a better option to help those who wanted to move ahead. In Kinshasa I distanced myself from the ways of my parents and ancestors. I wanted to discover the meaning of my life.
Right away I understood that I wouldn’t reach my goals as a teacher. I searched in the depths of the abyss, a deluge of ideas and wild fantasies overwhelmed me, and in the grips of the unknown the solution came to me, like it was dictated from above. I wanted to create what had never been seen and I would be the first to do it in the Congo. I would figure amongst the eminent award-winning African artists and even international artists, and this is exactly what happened.
My art wants to bridge civilizations, to bring them closer. To this day, I’ve created 3,014 works, both small and large. I’ve also created entire cities from my imagination. This is an irrefutable contribution to life and science. My œuvre includes four cities. My third, Kinshasa of the Third Millennium, is a revolution. It’s a free, peaceful city. I like peace and liberty. It’s a city where delinquents, police, and prisons do not exist. Many people think that art doesn’t contribute anything. I maintain that my art contributes to science and a better life. The words and commentaries that I write express the vision that inhabited me even before I started the piece. First comes the name of the piece, and then, I wait for the vision to come, and I make it real. I never make preliminary drawings. The vision gives me all I need, even the shape and the colors. I write just like I invent my sculptures. This is why I have to invest in the words. They correspond to my vision and to the pieces that I create, independent of history, memory, and academic rules. I am a designer, an architect, a sculptor, an engineer, and artist.
In Africa, the real origins of African art and contemporary art remain forces yet to be exploited. In Africa, art is brand new and not yet properly understood, not even by Africans. Our political leaders and the media haven’t yet grasped its importance. They’ve never spread the message of artists. Westerners are the ones who celebrate us, particularly the artists whose works bear characteristics that reflect their vision, their spirit, their style. We hear everywhere that globalization must benefit each and everyone, that it’s a worldwide march, yet if the West imposes its model upon us, it is an injunction. Each of us must take part in globalization for it to revolutionize the entire world. Relations between countries and cultures must be handled with respect and consideration. We must listen to one another.
I believe African art has given the best of itself; there’s a new momentum towards contemporary art. Most often art critics and western or even African curators neither see nor understand Africa from Africa’s perspective. They work with their ears. They need to go to Kinshasa. I draw my ideas from Africa.
