DRC – A land of culture

Linguistically, the Congolese nation has four national languages: Lingala, Kikongo, Tshiluba, Swahili, and over 400 dialects. The DRC is also steeped in culture and heritage. The birthplace of rumba has given the world a diverse array of musicians, such as rap star Gims, who performed during the Congolese National Day celebrations at Expo 2020 in Dubai.

The capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo has become a breeding ground for talented artists, attracting gallery owners and collectors from all over the world.

Sculptor and visual artist Alfred Liyolo is a living monument of Congolese culture. He is the only African artist to have been received by the Emperor of Japan. He has exhibited worldwide, from Switzerland to China, from Senegal to South Africa, and has participated in numerous art biennials and international exhibitions. The Liyolo Foundation preserves the artistic and cultural heritage of this great artist, author of countless monumental works, while promoting new artists.

Chéri Samba is one of the most well-known contemporary African artists; his works are featured in the collections of the Centre Georges-Pompidou in Paris and the MOMA in New York. He was invited to participate in the 1997 Venice Biennale. His paintings, at the crossroads of several pictorial influences, are characterized by often including text in French, English, and Lingala, in the form of commentaries on different facets of daily, social, political, and economic life in Africa, and more broadly on the modern world.