Art is protest. Where there’s Gonduana in Africa, is there Gangrene in Europe?
They Called The Wrong Country Gonduana
Awanga
Acrylic on canvas - 110x75
Democratic Republic of Congo, Kinshasa
Acrylic on canvas - 110x75
Democratic Republic of Congo, Kinshasa
How does the traveller see it?
(Fragment of a post from a Facebook page)
This painting, purchased in Kinshasa, is a unique one in my collection. Unique in that the events it depicts take place in the fictional country of Gonduana, and also in that the artist hid his name.
I hope that the Democratic Republic of Congo government isn’t monitoring my Facebook; they aren’t the Putinist FSB after all.
The artist’s name is Emmanuel Awanga, and his son, also an artist, sold me the work. I think that if push comes to shove, he will say “Lies! I didn’t draw this”.
The painting depicts a protest by the people of Gonduana. The demonstrators’ signs are in French: “the President is an asshole!”, “Enough is enough!” and so on.
But what is possible in Africa is already impossible today in Russia. There, people get arrested for merely liking a post on social media. Some time ago, there appeared a famous quote about Russia: “They called the wrong country Honduras*”. But today, it’s not even on the level of Gonduana.
It’s Gangrene.
Time to operate on it?
*(the word “Honduras” in Russian sounds close to “condom” and various other dirty words. The implication is that Russia, a mess of a country, should have been called Honduras)
The artist’s name is Emmanuel Awanga, and his son, also an artist, sold me the work. I think that if push comes to shove, he will say “Lies! I didn’t draw this”.
The painting depicts a protest by the people of Gonduana. The demonstrators’ signs are in French: “the President is an asshole!”, “Enough is enough!” and so on.
But what is possible in Africa is already impossible today in Russia. There, people get arrested for merely liking a post on social media. Some time ago, there appeared a famous quote about Russia: “They called the wrong country Honduras*”. But today, it’s not even on the level of Gonduana.
It’s Gangrene.
Time to operate on it?
*(the word “Honduras” in Russian sounds close to “condom” and various other dirty words. The implication is that Russia, a mess of a country, should have been called Honduras)
And what do you think?