BOOK 1 Congo Art work

Congo Art Works by Bambi Ceuppens and Sammy Balon.

it's a book written in French that shares old and new popular paintings from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. reading this book has been inspiring as I was able to find out how Congolese painters used a narrative approach to talk about life events and histories throughout their work. it was great finding out about their background history such as how they grew up and how they directed themselves into a career within Art.

Not only being colonised by Belgium back in 1800 had negatively impacted the life of Congolese women, men and children then ( the abuse and torture from Leopold II ), they had to suffer from poor nutrition and having their body mutilated if they didn't work hard enough or became ill ).

one of the many painters i found worth talking about is ;

Cheri Samba

Cheri Samba (Samba wa Mbimba N'zingo Nuni Masi Ndo Mbasi) a Congolese painter from Democratic Republic of the Congo. Born on the 30th of December 1956 in Kinto M'vuila (a small village near Madimba in lower Congo however this region is now called Central Congo).

Samba's artistic career began when he was young in his village, lack of toys in the village meant Samba (and other children) had to find ways to pass times, Samba drew/scribble in the sand alongside his brother therefore by doing so he would imagine himself becoming a '' great drawer '' in the future, although he did not know what it meant to be an artist.

Cheri Samba used a narrative approach in most of his work, such as ''Little Kadogo '' a large-scale painting created by Cheri Samba (2004), the painting depicts an innocent-looking young boy in an army uniform (Attire)with his hands up in the air to surrender. Samba's painting portrayed the widespread of child Soldiers, who make up 40% of the country's armies and militant. In the present day, there are Child Soldiers.

The artists use of Colours (Light, bright colours in flower and the sky) played an important in making the viewer feel sorry for the child who is innocent and is caught up in adult issues.

The use of words in most of Samba paintings in French and Lingala, he comments on life in Africa and the modern world. As a result, he received criticism (negative who didn't feel it was necessary and positive those who felt it gave a more back story of the issue that were depicted).