Sinzo Aanza

Projet d'attentat contre l'image? (Acte 3)

Projet d’attentat contre l’image? (Acte 3) by Sinzo Aanza brings together literature and objects in their varied forms. This project stems from the artist’s interest in the syncretism that emerged after Congo’s independence in 1960. In the work, the artist examines the culture and national identity of the Congo with regard to religion and images of colonial propaganda.

The installation presents disparate cultural objects placed on the wall in a serpentine curve, interspersing Congolese masks and Bibles. These anthropological objects, bound by a chain, oscillate between tradition and colonization. In a typical literary reference, Aanza describes the work as “a poem of doubt and inconstancy” that underscores a particular ambivalence considered characteristic of the Congo. Projet d’attentat contre l’image? bridges the gap between the necessities of life in the here and now and the possibility of the Kingdom of Heaven—a utopian image promised by the Catholic and Protestant colonial missions, on the one hand; and the conflict between the construction of a national identity and individual identities, on the other.