In the Congo, ndombolo music is so, so important for us. It is part of the daily life and experience. Why not use the fantastic energy…to speak the difficulties, dead ends, mistakes and the poor legacy of our fathers… If it’s impossible for us to send to hell a future that we never had, if it’s difficult to go on ruining our pile of ruins, let’s try to dream, the feet firmly kept on the ground, and just to imagine more future.

--- Faustin Linyekula

Come join Faustin Linyekula and members of his Studios Kabako in a roundtable discussion to share how people can rediscover a sense of belonging in our turbulent times. Faustin Linyekula returned to his homeland of the Democratic Republic of Congo after 13 years in exile to create Kabako, a network of multi-use studios throughout Kisangani, as an answer to the culture of death being propagated by the political violence in the aftermath of the Second Congo War (1998-2003). The circumstances which compelled Linyekula to return home and build in Kisangani are specific, but the causes and consequences resonate for all of us. Using as the starting point his artistic practice model, which he dubs “geo-choreography”, Linyekula invites local artist/activists to share their own models for self-sufficient and sustainable community through culture.

Saturday, October 22, 201, 12-2pm. Free.
Presented with the MCA. Reservations encouraged at mcachicago.org