An African phantom: between ruins and modernity, by Sammy Baloji (Democratic Republic Congo, 1978)
The history of his country, Katanga, influenced Sammy’s works. The latter are dedicated to the industrial culture of Congo, which is a country characterized by many mineral sources exploited by Belgian colonizers. In 2004, he was fascinated by the phantom character of Gécamines (General Mines Society ) factories in Lubumbashi. They are the symbol of the past wealth epoch of Katanga and they show a particular side of Africa, the industrial side. This is the author’s thought about memories and colonization ruins: “My previous works were dedicated to the colonial architecture. To some extent, my current works have a direct connection with the colonial past, which give birth to the cities of Katange province. These cities were built upon mines. The latter belong to Katanga’s history. The essence of my question lies on the daily life of Congolese people. Those are traces of the recent past, which is also present.”
Sammy Baloji’s images are not merely glances at that reality, but they are photomontages which merge ancient black and white photos of mines of Union Minière du Haut Katanga to contemporary color images of actual mines, of devastated countries. In occasion of his exhibition, Fondation Blachère reported: “Sammy Baloji lets us brutally remain in the reality. Through photography we illustrate history. On one hand, there are desolated landscapes where all humanity has disappeared. They tell us about a working past which was responsible for wealth and pride: nowadays, that dream of pride has disappeared and it has left only some metallic structures which are slowly working. On the other hand, there are black and white images of colonial past. It was only yesterday. Men were chained up, naked, skeletal, whom we look at from big distance. In some photomontages, with metallic structure as background, those men dignifiedly sleep and bear our sight. This is a repossession of that past, in order to look forward.”
Sammy Baloji illustrates the history of Congo, which has several dark sides, recurring over different past governments and particularly during colonial epoch. “To superimpose past to present reveal the will to denounce past and present abuses.”
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