Yango Biennale

Inside Yango

About us

The Yango Biennial is organized by Mutotu in collaboration with IFAA Global of theIFAA Platform, Thamgidi Foundation, collective K50 and Enda Mbele

Curators note

I see the biennale as a facilitator, which enables cross – pollination across cultures. The ability to have this position makes the biennale the core of where societal transformation can take place…

Award winners

The Yango prize is a symbolic action to support and strengthen the artistic creation. It is also meant to stimulate collaborations beyond the biennale.

Exhibition Locations

Below are the Yango Biennale 1st edition exhibition partners:

Museum of Contemporary art Kinshasa

1_Page_015_Image_0002 Académie des Beaux-Arts

Institute Francaise

Wallonie Bruxelles

The 2014 Yango Biennale’s focus was on:

The role of Culture in development The situation of the urban and the natural Environment The position of women artists in cultural production in Congo The situation of cultural education in Congo (and it’s relation to cultural heritage)

1_Page_015_Image_0002 Issues related to the creation of a cultural industry with a specific focus on contemporary art in Congo. Public participation in strengthening cultural development

The participating artists came from across the globe so as to engage in the dialogue regarding the crisis in Congo from different perspectives. Our hope was that they would respond to the reality of Congo and at the same time question the role of the Congolese people and that of the world in addressing these urgent issues. Since the biennale is a facilitator of intellectual activity, creativity and critical reflection, it can through art and artists, help us organize our world – as art is one means by which we understand our society and culture, and the society and cultures of others.

Official opening of Yango Biennale

Design Week

The core of Yango Biennale Design Week project was about creating design and production consciousness. The purpose of focusing on design and production consciousness as a starting point, was with the aim to inspire a different way of re-thinking design - by beginning from the local context. The other emphasis of Design week was in the building of a Design Platform in Kinshasa that could facilitate local production. Read more…