Remembering the Present: Painting and Popular History in ZaireThis book combines ethnography with the study of art to present a fascinating new vision of African history. It contains the paintings of a single artist depicting Zaire's history, along with a series of ethnographic essays discussing local history, its complex relationship to forms of self-expression and self-understanding, and the aesthetics of contemporary urban African and Third World societies. As a collaboration between ethnographer and painter, this innovative study challenges text-oriented approaches to understanding history and argues instead for an event- and experience-oriented model, ultimately adding a fresh perspective to the discourse on the relationship between modernity and tradition. During the 1970s, Johannes Fabian encouraged Tshibumba Kanda Matulu to paint the history of Zaire. The artist delivered the work in batches, together with an oral narrative. Fabian recorded these statements along with his own question-and-answer sessions with the painter. The first part of the book is the complete series of 100 paintings, with excerpts from the artist's narrative and the artist-anthropologist dialogues. Part Two consists of Fabian's essays about this and other popular painting in Zaire. The essays discuss such topics as performance, orality, history, colonization, and popular art. |
Contents
LVIII | 107 |
LIX | 108 |
LX | 109 |
LXI | 110 |
LXII | 111 |
LXIII | 112 |
LXIV | 113 |
LXV | 115 |
32 | |
34 | |
35 | |
36 | |
XV | 38 |
XVI | 40 |
XVII | 41 |
XVIII | 43 |
XIX | 45 |
XX | 46 |
XXI | 47 |
XXII | 49 |
XXIII | 51 |
XXIV | 53 |
XXV | 54 |
XXVI | 56 |
XXVII | 57 |
XXVIII | 59 |
XXIX | 61 |
XXX | 63 |
XXXI | 64 |
XXXII | 66 |
XXXIII | 67 |
XXXIV | 68 |
XXXV | 70 |
XXXVI | 72 |
XXXVII | 74 |
XXXVIII | 76 |
XXXIX | 77 |
XL | 79 |
XLI | 81 |
XLII | 83 |
XLIII | 84 |
XLIV | 85 |
XLV | 87 |
XLVI | 88 |
XLVII | 89 |
XLVIII | 91 |
XLIX | 92 |
L | 94 |
LI | 96 |
LII | 98 |
LIII | 100 |
LIV | 102 |
LV | 103 |
LVI | 105 |
LVII | 106 |
LXVI | 117 |
LXVII | 119 |
LXVIII | 121 |
LXIX | 123 |
LXX | 125 |
LXXI | 127 |
LXXII | 129 |
LXXIII | 131 |
LXXIV | 133 |
LXXV | 135 |
LXXVI | 137 |
LXXVII | 139 |
LXXVIII | 141 |
LXXIX | 143 |
LXXX | 145 |
LXXXI | 147 |
LXXXII | 149 |
LXXXIII | 151 |
LXXXIV | 153 |
LXXXV | 155 |
LXXXVI | 157 |
LXXXVII | 158 |
LXXXVIII | 160 |
LXXXIX | 162 |
XC | 164 |
XCI | 166 |
XCII | 168 |
XCIII | 170 |
XCIV | 172 |
XCV | 174 |
XCVI | 176 |
XCVII | 178 |
XCVIII | 180 |
XCIX | 181 |
C | 182 |
CI | 183 |
CII | 187 |
CIII | 193 |
CIV | 219 |
CV | 247 |
CVI | 269 |
CVII | 297 |
CVIII | 317 |
CIX | 329 |
337 | |
347 | |
Common terms and phrases
African artist Baluba Banza Kongo Baudouin Belgian Bob Denard Bodson Brussels Bukavu bumba called chapter Chief Colonie Belge color plate Conaco Congo Congolese conversation culture death depicted died Diogo Căo Elisabethville ethnic ethnographic Fabian fighting flag Force Publique Gécamines Geerts genre painting happened historian History of Zaire independence inscription Jewsiewicki Kabinda Kalonji Kamakanda Kamina Kasai Kasavubu Katanga Katanga secession killed Kinshasa Kipushi Kisangani Leopold Léopoldville Likasi Livingstone Luba Lubumbashi Lulua Lumpungu Lumumba mambo mawazo Mbuji-Mayi meaning memory Mm-hmm Mobutu monument Msiri narrative Ngongo Lutete November painter performance person picture plane political popular painting prison scene Shaba Simon Kimbangu smelter soldiers speech Stanley Stanleyville story Swahili symbols talked Tetela texts things thought tion told took town Tshi Tshibumba Tshibumba Kanda Matulu Tshibumba's History Tshombe United Nations village whites Willame Zairian