Tableau noir, craie blanche & Tourniqué à Kinshasa

"It is not the role of the artist to build the city, but rather to bear witness, to denounce evil and to encourage people to think positively." Mega Mingiedi in Adiac, 2022.

Tableau noir, craie blanche [Blackboard, white chalk] is an imaginary map of the Tobongisa lyceum in Kinshasa, drawn with a biro. As in Tourniqué à Kinshasa, Mega Mingiedi uses the map to point out the issues and challenges facing the city. After Ecuador with its Amazon forest, the Democratic Republic of Congo is the most densely forested area in the world. Many trees are cut down, yet most of the country's school children have no desks to sit at in class. The bulk of the local timber is exported to the European ports. The Congolese themselves have little to show for it.

Tourniqué à Kinshasa is an imaginary map of the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo, drawn with a biro. At first glance, the map looks like a standard plan of Kinshasa, but a closer look reveals a second, invisible reality lurking beneath the surface. Mega Mingiedi draws attention to the contrast between the city's landmarks and its more vulnerable neighbourhoods. The work is dotted with references to the city's economy, corruption, ecological promises and hopes for the future.
With the title, which means "touring in Kinshasa", Mingiedi lets us know that things are afoot in the city. He is also referring to the efforts of the Inspection générale des finances (IGF) to combat the embezzlement of state funds. Through the work he addresses the political powers that be, but also the students, the leaders of tomorrow.

Although Mega Mingiedi's drawings appear to map out the physical urban landscape of Kinshasa, they also reveal a second, invisible city whose realities are buried below the surface.