Beauté Congo at the Cartier Foundation for Contemporary Art

The Cartier Foundation for Contemporary Art in Paris is honoring the unique artistic history of the Democratic Republic of Congo with an exhibition that opened last month and will run through November 15, 2015. The art displayed dates from 1926, which is cited as the beginning of modern Congolese painting, until the present. While the art primarily focuses on painting, it includes various sculpture, photography, and comics. Additionally, to highlight the influence of rumba in the 1950s in Sub-Sahara Africa, the music is audible throughout parts of the exhibition. Rumba is a conjunction of jazz, soul and rap that is largely exclusive to Africa. Vincent Kenis of Crammed Discs and Césarine Bolya are featured in a video of interviews of people involved with Kinshasha’s 1960s music scene.