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.
Embracing precarity is the essence of “J’aime RD-Congo.” This project originated at the 8th edition of the Lubumbashi Biennale in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Lafleur and Bogaert appropriated local shopping bags and transformed them into official Biennale tote bags distributed at the event, hand-painting them with messages that resonate with the language of publicity campaigns and tourism, akin to the famous “I love NY” signs.
They blend these messages with both popular and highbrow themes, notably referencing the recently deceased Congolese philosopher, novelist, and Duke University professor Valentin-Yves Mudimbe, author of The Invention of Africa. Ever evolving, the “J’aime” series has also become a vast textile collage, incorporating textual references to the various sites and venues in which it has lived and expanded.
J’aime RD Congo (2024)
35 x 40 cm
Polypropylene woven shopping bag ‘taux du jour’.
J'aime la Biennale de Lubumbashi (2024) 35 x 40 cm – 13 x 15 inches
Hand-painted tote bags
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 Lubumbashi
51 x 180 cm – 20 x 70 inches
Hand-set letters on shopping bags sewn together with copper thread.