Maarten Vanden Eynde

Showcase of DRC’s art scene, the Biennial of Lubumbashi aims to explore, since its foundation in 2008, the latest developments in contemporary creation, while shedding light on the reality of cultural interactions in this Central Africa region.

The 4ème Biennale de Lubumbashi’s title “Realitiés filantes” (“Shooting Realities”) refers to the writings of great Martinican poet, philosopher and writer Edouard Glissant. The exhibitions and events proposed for this edition bring into question the diverse and complex ways that artists apprehend a “disposable” reality in which nothing seems destined to last. Between "connectedness" (to be related) and "contiguity" (to be next to), which links connect the places and territories to the individual or collective identity? What measuring grids of the near and far coexist in consideration of the multiple visible and invisible connections between the most heterogeneous spaces? Finally, what creative practices accompany the frantic transformation of the city and its new topographies? These are some of the issues that nurture the biennial’s 4th edition. Artists from diverse geopolitical backgrounds and different generations will be present in Lubumbashi through works engaging the public in intense encounters.

With: Charif Benhelima, Frances Bodomo, Bakary Diallo, Jonathas de Andrade, Alfredo Jaar, Jean Katambayi, Richard Kaumba, Kapwani Kiwanga, Mathieu Kleyebe Abonnenc, Gulda El Magambo, Michèle Magema, Eddy Masumbuku, Mega Mingiedi, Adrien Missika, Vitshois Mwilambwe, Mônica Nador, No Olho da Rua, Henrique Oliveira, Els Opsomer, Georges Senga, Pathy Tshindele, Joëlle Tuerlinckx, Maarten Vanden Eynde, Sarah Vanagt, Costa Vece, Pecho Kamunga…

Maarten Vanden Eynde-Technofossil-billboardTechnofossil (Billboard), Kalukuluku Art Market, Ruashi, D.R. Congo (2015)

Maarten Vanden Eynde-Technofossil-billboard2Technofossil (Billboard), Kalukuluku Art Market, Ruashi, D.R. Congo (2015)

Maarten Vanden Eynde-Malachite Mobiles2Malachite Mobiles, Kalukuluku Art Market, Ruashi, D.R. Congo (2015)

Malachite Mobiles involves an addition to the local tourist sculpture market in Ruashi, D.R. Congo and a possible economic stimulation. The sculptures that are currently being made by the local artisans are animals (elephants, crocodiles, frogs, ea), ashtrays and a miniature map of Congo or Africa. They are all made of Malachite, a precious mineral containing a high percentage of copper, giving it its known dark green colour. Copper is the most used mineral in any telephone, more than all the other minerals combined. On avarage 12% of the total weight of every telephone is copper. Malachite is however also known for its special ‘healing powers’ in Chakra rituals. It helps to connect to the heart and has the extraordinary ability to block negative radiation from electrical equipment like computers and telephones.

I ordered several copies in Malachite of iconic telephone models like the first iphone, the first Nokia, the first Blackberry, ... simutaneously visualising the end product and the origin of the used mineral. The models are displayed and sold on the local market next to the animals and ashtrays.

Maarten Vanden Eynde-Malachite MobilesMalachite Mobiles, Kalukuluku Art Market, Ruashi, D.R. Congo (2015)

Maarten Vanden Eynde-Malachite Mobiles-Kalukuluku-Ruashi2Malachite Mobiles, Kalukuluku Art Market, Ruashi, D.R. Congo (2015)

Maarten Vanden Eynde-Malachite Mobiles-Kalukuluku-RuashiKalukuluku Art Market, Ruashi, D.R. Congo (2015)

Maarten Vanden Eynde-Technofossil-closeTechnofossil, National Museum Lubumbashi, D.R. Congo (2015)

As humans have colonised and modified the Earth’s surface, they have developed progressively more sophisticated tools and technologies. These underpin a new kind of stratigraphy, that is termed technostratigraphy by Jan Zalasiewicz (Chair of the Anthropocene Working Group of the International Commission on Stratigraphy), marked by the geologically accelerated evolution and diversification of technofossils – the preservable material remains of the technosphere.

Almost all electrical appliances are made with electronic circuit boards that all have copper wiring, which in many cases is coming from copper mines in Congo. Most workers in the mines (les creuseurs) don't know themselves what the materials they are extracting are used for. The promising global knowledge distribution, made possible thanks to computers and smart phones, in connection with Internet, did not make it back to it's point of departure. The gap between the beginning and the end, between cause and consequence, is unbelievably big. Regardless of the fact that so called 'blood minerals' were regularly in the news recently, an equal amount of end users of the minerals does know nothing about its origin. The recent bans on import of 'blood minerals' from Congo only lead to more illegal export to neighbouring countries from where export of minerals does not pose any problems.

Technofossils brings both worlds closer to each other by sculpting the telephones, laptops, ipads and computers directly in to the rocks, as if they were always there and just had to be discovered or liberated. The archetype of technological revolution is embedded in stone.

A monument for the future, looking back at a world in which the gap between rich and poor, between the extractors of the minerals and the end consumers is so big, and willingly kept so big, that it is hard to imagine it will ever change.

Maarten Vanden Eynde-TechnofossilTechnofossil, National Museum Lubumbashi, D.R. Congo (2015)

Maarten Vanden Eynde-Technofossil-displayTechnofossil, National Museum Lubumbashi, D.R. Congo (2015)

Maarten Vanden Eynde-Technofossil2Technofossil, National Museum Lubumbashi, D.R. Congo (2015)

Maarten Vanden Eynde-Technofossil-National Museum Lubumbashi-closeTechnofossil (in collaboration with Musasa)
National Museum Lubumbashi, D.R. Congo (2015)

Maarten Vanden Eynde-Technofossil-National Museum LubumbashiTechnofossil (in collaboration with Musasa)
National Museum Lubumbashi, D.R. Congo (2015)