CATPC, an acronym 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 and founder of Greenpeace Congo René Ngongo, CATPC operates as an art cooperative. CATPC is based in Lusanga, formerly known as Leverville, Unilever's first plantation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In 2017, CATPC built an art center named White Cube Lusanga.
CATPC specializes in clay sculptures, reproduced in Europe using materials such as cacao and palm oil, common products derived from plantations. CATPC is critical of the plantation system, 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 Unilever 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 and community.
The art collective uses income generated from exhibitions and sales of their artworks to buy back and restore their land using the principles of agroforestry. The overarching goal is to develop a regenerative model where artistic expression provides the community of Lusanga with land ownership and sustainable livelihoods. CATPC calls this the "post-plantation", since it provides a sustainable alternative to the prevalence of monoculture plantations. Whereas a traditional plantation is based on extracting one crop (palm oil in the case of Leverville) 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, Kunsthal Charlottenborg Biennale, 22nd Biennial Sesc_Videobrasil, SCCA Tamale, KOW, Hayy Jameel, EYE Filmmuseum, among others. CATPC, Renzo Martens and curator Hicham Khalidi, will represent the Netherlands at the Venice Biennale 2024.
History
Origins Established in August 2014, CATPC originated from a collaboration between plantation workers from three different plantations in the south of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). They worked with Kinshasa-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. The president of CATPC is René Ngongo, biologist, environmentalist and political activitst based in Kinshasa.
CATPC collaborates regularly with Human Activities, art institute founded by Dutch artist Renzo Martens. Together, they founded the White Cube museum in Lusanga, organize exhibitions and conferences and make art.
CATPC is represented by KOW, contemporary art gallery in Berlin.
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 and CATPC members to engage in critical discussions covering a wide spectrum of activities in Congo – from art to society to the economy. Notable speakers included art historian T.J. Demos, philosopher Marcus Steinweg, activist René Ngongo, architect Eyal Weizman, economist Jérome Mumbanza, curator Nina Möntmann, anthropologist Katrien Pype, artist Emmanuel Botalatala, curator Ellen Blumenstein, and theorist Ariella Azoulay.
White Cube museum In 2017, CATPC inaugurated the White Cube, the first museum on a plantation. The opening was accompanied by an exhibition titled "The Repatriation of the White Cube". Designed by OMA, the architecture and nomenclature draw on the modernist art historical tradition of white cube galleries and the privileges and gatekeeping associated with these types of institutions. By placing a white cube on a plantation, a site that has funded many popular museums in the Western art world (such as the Tate Modern "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 gardens and fields.
SculptureCenter Solo Exhibition and Conference In 2017 CATPC had their first solo exhibition in the United States, at SculptureCenter in Long Island City. The exhibition included both existing and new sculptures and drawings.
The center also hosted a public conference on CATPC’s works and their connections with the rest of the art world. Ariella Azoulay, Simon Gikandi, Eléonore Hellio, David Joselit, Matthieu Kilapi Kasiama, Ruba Katrib, Renzo Martens, Els Roelandt, and Michael Taussig all took place in this edition of SculptureCenter Conversations: Matter of Critique Part IV.
Dutch Pavilion of the Venice Biennale 2024 In April 2023, it was announced that CATPC, together with artist Renzo Martens and curator Hicham Khalidi, will present a simultaneous and linked exhibition at the Dutch pavilion of the Venice Biennale 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.
CATPC argues that art institutions should realise that their buildings and programmes are financed by the very same companies that exploited plantation labour. For Biennale Arte 2024 CATPC presents new sculptures in both the Dutch Pavilion and the White Cube. Alongside, the Dutch Pavilion presents the performance film The Judgement of the White Cube. The ancestral sculpture Balot plays a central role in both exhibitions. For CATPC this wooden statue, made in 1931, is of great significance, connecting the past with the present.
Ced'art Tamasala, on behalf of CATPC: “Each sculpture is a seed that brings back the sacred forest. These sculptures will function as vehicles that enable a shared, just future for all people. They will help us reclaim our stolen land and bring back the sacred forest.”
List of works CATPC is best known for their chocolate sculptures but has also ventured into drawings, videos, photographs and textile works. CATPC's sculptures include portraits and allegories. Their material, the cocoa bean, 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 Labor, 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
Resistance Fighter Series SubtitleArtistsYearResistance Fighter Series: Brother Ibrahim MahamaCed'Art Tamasala, Plamedi Makongote / CATPC2024Resistance Fighter Series: Dancer of a group of traveling wayang topeng players, BataviaCed'Art Tamasala, Mirra Meya, Plamedi Makongote / CATPC2024Resistance Fighter Series: Female workers at Deli Plantations, SumatraMbuku Kimpala, Tantine Mukundu, Charlotte Leba, Philomène Lebusa, Irène Kanga, Huguette Kilembi, Muyaka Kapasa, Athanas Kindendi / CATPC2024Resistance Fighter Series: Female workers at Deli Plantations, SumatraMuyaka Kapasa, Charlotte Leba, Olele Mulela, Philomène Lembusa, Jean Kawata, Ced'Art Tamasala / CATPC2024Resistance Fighter Series: Female workers at plantations in Java or Deli, SumatraEmery Muhamba, Irène Kanga, Plamedi Makongote, Ced'Art Tamasala / CATPC2024Resistance Fighter Series: Jean-Jacques DessalinesMatthieu Kasiama, Olele Mulela, Jean Kawata, Mirra Meya / CATPC2024Resistance Fighter Series: KarikachaMatthieu Kasiama, Ced'Art Tamasala, Plamedi Makongote, Alvers Tamasala / CATPC2024Resistance Fighter Series: Keti Koti, Free man of SurinameAlphonse Bukumba, Jean Kawata, Tantine Mukundu / CATPC2024Resistance Fighter Series: Male plantation worker from Java or SumatraJean Kawata, Muyaka Kapasa, Charlotte Leba / CATPC2024Resistance Fighter Series: Mama KimpavitaRichard Leta, Athanas Kindendi, Tantine Mukundu, Charlotte Leba, Plamedi Makongote / CATPC2024
Balot NFT