AFA NOVEMBER Pictures website11

On November 18, Art For All goes to Religion? Kitend! (Jenny Onya Ambukiyenyi).

After a fatal accident in the city of Kinshasa Esdras, Chadrak, Lydienne and Kadogo find themselves in a dusty waiting room. Stuck between two worlds, they are confronted with their past. At desperate speed, they search for a way to break free before their human consciousness is completely extinguished.

This multilingual dance-theatre creation takes place in Congo, a country close to Jenny Ambukiyenyi Onya’s heart. Immerse yourself in the world of La Sape* (or “Society of Ambianceurs and Elegant People”) and discover unexplored paths!

This creation questions the appropriation of the dominant culture and the complexity of post-colonial identities. It offers a model of individual emancipation in which the sapeur reaffirms his identity through his deep connection with Nzambi Ya Mpungu, the embodiment of Beauty in all its forms.

*La Sape (also known as The Society of Ambianceurs and Elegant People) is a subculture centered on the cities of Kinshasa and Brazzaville in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Republic of Congo respectively. The name comes from the French slang word sape, which means ‘clothes’ or ‘dressed up’. La Sape aims to show elegance and style within fashion, similar to predecessors before. People who participate in the movement are called sapeurs.

“La sape was popularized in the 1960s. The most common version of its origins is that sapeurs started dressing in costume and displaying their elegance in an ostentatious manner to resemble Europeans. However, my research and reading has shown that the culture of dressing in the Congo completely pre-dates colonisation. The Kongolese were well known for their use of textiles. They already had a relationship with the body based on respect for the self and other deities. According to their spirituality, the divine is nature itself. In order to be connected to this beautiful and perfect nature, I have to reach for this beauty. Through the body and through the clothes.”

We meet up with the group at Globe Aroma at 7pm.

Interested? Contact Amina: 0496 10 86 57 / artforall@globearoma.be

You can find more info here.