J’aime RD Congo
J’aime RD Congo (2024)Installation view Lubumbashi Biennale
250 x 400 cm
Hand-set letters on shopping bags sewn together with copper thread.
In December 2023, the artist duo Lafleur & Bogaert traveled to the Democratic Republic of the Congo to prepare for their participation in the eighth edition of the Biennale de Lubumbashi. During their stay, Michel Lafleur (Haiti) and Tom Bogaert (Belgium) were struck by the omnipresence of woven polypropylene shopping bags — popularly known as “taux du jour.” Moved by their raw aesthetic and both local and global embeddedness, the duo chose these bags as the starting point for their project, which was presented on October 24, 2024, during the opening week of the Biennale de Lubumbashi.
J’aime RD Congo (2024)
35 x 40 cm
Polypropylene woven shopping bag ‘taux du jour’.
Lafleur & Bogaert reimagined the iconic “J’aime RD Congo” bags by turning them inside out and hand-painting new messages on them. These transformed bags became the official tote bags of the Biennale de Lubumbashi. Each bag carries, on one side, a slogan collected from street interviews, and on the other, the inscription “Biennale de Lubumbashi,” establishing a direct connection between contemporary art and everyday life.
The 2024 edition of the Biennale was dedicated to the philosophy of the recently deceased thinker Valentin-Yves Mudimbe, whose intellectual legacy served as a major inspiration for this edition. As a tribute to his legacy, Lafleur & Bogaert inscribed the name “Mudimbe” on the first prototypes of the tote bag.
In collaboration with the collective Ateliers Picha, organizers of the Biennale, the duo hand-produced around a hundred unique bags on-site in Lubumbashi. These hybrid objects — both artworks and functional bags — now circulate through the streets as visible artistic emissaries of the Biennale.
A monumental textile collage measuring 4 by 2.5 meters, made from the same materials, became one of the iconic works of this edition of the Biennale de Lubumbashi.
J'aime la Biennale de Lubumbashi (2024) 35 x 40 cm – 13 x 15 inches
Hand-painted tote bags
Since July 2025, Lafleur & Bogaert have been unfolding their ‘J’aime RD Congo’ project as a traveling artistic journey across the country — from Lubumbashi through Kolwezi, Mbuji-Mayi, Lusanga, and Kinshasa, to the Atlantic shores of Muanda. The ongoing east-to-west voyage features a series of artistic interventions along its route.
The first stop of this Grand Tour was a presentation at the third edition of the Sauti ya Macho Festival and the National Museum of Kolwezi in July 2025. The duo developed new versions of the project on-site.
Afterward, the project will continue its journey across the Democratic Republic of the Congo with various stops, including an exhibition at the White Cube of the Cercle d'Art des Travailleurs de Plantation Congolaise (CATPC) in Lusanga, scheduled for 2026.
The project is locally coordinated by Jenny Munyongamayi, a long-time collaborator of Lafleur & Bogaert during the Biennale de Lubumbashi. Jenny is a writer, slam poet, and member of the collective Les Ateliers We’art Slam, and also a professional in the art world: she is a board member and spokesperson for the Biasasa Art Center in Lubumbashi.
J’aime BELGIQUE – INGA – KOLWEZI (2025)
Installation view National Museum of Kolwezi, DR Congo
51 x 65 cm – 20 x 25 inches
Hand-set letters on shopping bags sewn together with copper thread.
J’aime KOLWEZI (2025)
Installation view National Museum of Kolwezi, DR Congo
51 x 65 cm – 20 x 25 inches
Hand-set letters on shopping bags sewn together with copper thread.
J’aime KOLWEZI (2025)
Installation view Sauti ya Macho Festival in Kolwezi, DR Congo
51 x 180 cm – 20 x 70 inches
Hand-set letters on shopping bags sewn together with copper thread.
J’aime KOLWEZI (2025)
Installation view
51 x 180 cm – 20 x 70 inches
Hand-set letters on shopping bags sewn together with copper thread.
J’aime RD Congo (2025)
Installation view Frosch & Co gallery in New York City.