Remembering the Present: Painting and Popular History in Zaire

Anthropologist Johannes Fabian performed an outstanding service in sponsoring artist/historian Tshibumba's unique vision of his country's history. His words and the paintings themselves offer a rather romantic look at precolonial life, but a searing indictment of the epoch of Belgian rule. The interpretation of the Mobutu period is more equivocal, partly due to living under the authority of that regime, but also because Tshibumba genuinely admired some of Mobutu's achievements. Our artist vanished (presumably deceased) in the mid to late 1970s just as the tyrant's control began to go sour; it would be fascinating to read and see how Tshibumba assessed Mobutu's decline and fall. His history operates on three levels---through his startling folk images, his own words, and the dialogue which emerges out of interviews with Fabian. The result is probably the most fully realized popular interpretation of the history of any African country, though oriented toward Tshibumba's home province of Katanga (Shaba). Fabian's essays in Part II further enhance our understanding of their joint project, though a couple are dense enough to deter some students and lay readers, thus 4 1/2 stars. Overall, a stunning and memorable collaboration. If only we had more like it.... For another indigenous perspective on many of the same events, by a Katangese girl who grew to womanhood during the Mobutu era, see Suruba Wechsler, "By the Grace of God," less penetrating but rather more accessible. Useful background material is also available in works by Edouard Bustin, Thomas Kanza, Crawford Young, and David Birmingham & Phyllis Martin.

Anthropologist Johannes Fabian performed an outstanding service in sponsoring painter/historian Tshibumba's unique vision of his country's history. His words and the paintings themselves offer a rather romantic look at precolonial life, but a searing indictment of the epoch of Belgian rule. The interpretation of the Mobutu period is more equivocal, partly due to living under the authority of that regime, but also because Tshibumba genuinely admired some of Mobutu's achievements. Our painter vanished (presumably deceased) in the mid to late 1970s just as the tyrant's control began to go sour; it would be fascinating to read and see how Tshibumba assessed Mobutu's decline and fall. His history operates on three levels---through his startling folk images, his own words, and the dialogue which emerges out of interviews with Fabian. The result is probably the most fully realized popular interpretation of the history of any African country, though oriented toward Tshibumba's home province of Katanga (Shaba). Fabian's essays in Part II further enhance our understanding of their joint project, though some are dense enough to deter some students and lay readers, thus 4 1/2 stars. Overall, a stunning and memorable collaboration. If only we had more like it.... For another indigenous perspective on many of the same events, by a Katangan girl who grew to womanhood during the Mobutu era, see Suruba Wechsler, "By the Grace of God," less penetrating but rather more accessible. Useful background material is also available in works by Eduard Bustin, Crawford Young, and Phyllis Martin and David Birmingham.