S. R. Kovo N'Sondé
M’KISI ZEIT: B.B.B. (Berlin Bilongo Blues)
Exhibition: January 19-26, 2024
Opening, book launch and performances: January 19, 2024 - 7 pm
Official launch of the Bandcamp of M22 from the 7 Corrompus
Studio 8 Bar Gallery
Grüntaler Str. 8, 13357 Berlin
Inspired by Mamuti ma Nsieela, curated by La Pythie77 aka Delphine Marinier
“Nsi’ani Kongo ntomono zoolo, ka Yerousalem a bau a ko (...)
I prefer my Kongo than their Jerusalem,
Cult of few bones than graves and totems
For what Christians, Muslims and Jews fought bleeded
(Pays Kongo, C.E.C.E, 1995-2001)
“...there is maybe a remedy for melancholy, blues, spleen and desperation: transe”
(Germinal, C.E.C.E., live with Chassol, 2006)
How it all started
In 1995, I escaped from my french suburb of le Mée-sur-Seine (77) and landed in the Danckelmanstrasse, Charlottenburg. The city of Berlin as well as my mboongi (Schüchternheit der Intimität) became a remedy, a m’kisi for me: I had to heal an ulcerebral, a mystic crisis caused by spleendeur and melancholy. The cover of my book Du sens originel de Nzambi a Mpungú is an artefact representing precisely a M’kisi scene painted by Chef Wapiti N’Sondé in 1996 in le Mée-sur-Seine. This same year, I started to study philosophy and to make studio & live music recordings of Hip-Hop and Afro-Punk in Berlin, London and Paris.
In my book Du sens originel de Nzambi a Mpungú (Volume I, PAARI Edition, Dec. 2023), I conceptualise the tectonics of peoples or Tektonik der Völker und deren Sittlichkeiten. I demysty the deity of ancient Kongo religions called Nzambi a Mpúngu from the late 15th century to nowadays reality on both black Atlantic’s sides. For example, it's very possible that the internationally known Haitian figure "zombie" originally comes from a transfiguration of Nzambi, a reflection of Nzambi a Mpúngu.
I first introduced this principle in Congo-Mfoa in 2022 and in Caracas in 2023 and then in April 2023 at the French partner bookstore Zadig in Berlin based on the article Idée d’une histoire culturelle au point de vue tectonique (a reference to Idee zu einer allgemeinen Geschichte in weltbürgerlicher Absicht, Kant, 1784). This concept is an alternative to the so-called theory of Samuel Huntington The Clash of Civilizations (1996).
About the exhibition
The title of the series of paintings is "M’kisi Zeit: B. B. B. Berlin Bilongo Blues". Living just in front of the Stalin Bau of Frankfurter Allee inspired me in the way that I had to exorcise the fact of being constantly exposed to the burden of the history of Berlin. Mu-kisi, M’kisi or Nkisi means ritual ceremonial in kikôngo language. Bilongo precisely refers to the ingredients which are giving a statue or any material support of this ancient religion, its efficiency. Here, these artefacts are not only colours but also mineral, vegetal and metallic elements.
Birongo with “R” is a river named during colonial times by afro-descendant maroons in Venezuela. My work can be summed up in four “R”: Reinterpretation-Restitution-Rhizome, as theory and practice, an Art Distillery. In two words: CREATION’SONDÉ. The fourth “R” is for Reparations. It’s exactly what has been emasculated from Christiane Taubira’s law for recognition of slavery as a crime against humanity in France. Reparations are artistically and philosophically implemented as a rhizome since 2009 between Berlin and Brazza-Mfoa, nowadays in communities and academies from Caracas to Birongo (Venezuela).
The exhibition and audio-visual installation in the gallery space can be seen as an echo of the Art Distillery.
Performances program
7:30 pm
M22: P4 (perfo-conference, philosophy, poetry, & paintings). M’kisi, Mboongi & Nguunu’s deity from Nzambi a Mpúngu to Zombie & Zumbi (30 min)
8:00 pm
M22: Raphilosophy (live acoustic performance of the poems Spleendide Banlieue) ; tribute to Matsoua André, the historic Matricule 22. (EP vinyl for 1st time available in digital: “KOVO MATRICULE 22. Voilà dans quel sens nous sommes réellement des anarchistes.”)
Éh mamé (kisansi / voix): tribute to Nkééngé’s saga
M22 sings AFRO-PUNK SHOW : from Sad night (lyrics by Wallace U. N’Sondé) to Feel so high & One night stand (lyrics by Wilfried N’Sondé).
From 9 pm until late: strictly vinylsDJ Trim, Wallace XP2, Selecta M22
Links
Wordpress
PAARI (PAn-African Review of Innovation)
Soundcloud
YouTube
Instagram
Studio 8 Bar Gallery
Facebook
Bandcamp
With the support from:
