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Congolese artists

28 artists

The Congo basin is home to some of Africa's most celebrated sculpture: the power figures of the Kongo, the masks of the Pende, Luba and Songye, the Kuba kingdom's textiles and royal portraits. Modern Congolese art began in the colonial period with pioneers such as Antoinette Lubaki, who painted watercolours in the 1920s, and Pilipili Mulongoy of the Hangar workshop in Lubumbashi.

From the 1970s, Kinshasa produced one of Africa's great urban art movements, Congolese popular painting: Chéri Samba, Chéri Chérin, Moké and Bodo painted the city's life with captions like comic strips, while Tshibumba Kanda Matulu painted the history of the country in Lubumbashi. Bodys Isek Kingelez built fantastic model cities from card and plastic, Freddy Tsimba sculpts with spent bullet cases, and the photographer Sammy Baloji works with the mining history of Katanga. These are the Congo's artists with Wikipedia articles, most looked-up first. See also Congolese painters, Congolese photographers and Central Africa.

Profiles

Painter

Chéri Samba

DR Congo · 1956–

Chéri Samba started as a sign painter in Kinshasa and became one of Africa's best-known artists, with comic-strip paintings full of text, humour and politics.

Painter

Chéri Chérin

DR Congo · 1955–2025

Chéri Chérin, one of the founders of Kinshasa's popular painting, painted the city's politics, scandals and dreams with biting humour. He died in October 2025.

More artists

Most looked-up first. Names link to our profile, or to Wikipedia where we do not have one yet. Short descriptions from Wikidata; portraits from Wikimedia Commons. Image credits