ARTFEED — Contemporary Art Intelligence

Afterall’s Video Series Explores Sape, Performance Art, and Congolese Identity

other · 2026-04-22

Afterall.org has unveiled a series of videos from the CDA (Congo Design Arts) Project, blending textile and furniture design with fashion and architecture. Cedrick Nzolo, a designer, delves into the Sape, a unique Congolese subculture that celebrates elaborate dressing as a form of art embodying life, charm, and skill. Meanwhile, artist and educator Prisca Tankwey examines how Sape intersects with performance art, pushing the boundaries of artistic classification. Photographer and writer Sinzo Aanza presents his Improbable Memorial, linking the surge of mobile phones to the colonial exploitation of Congolese resources. Other conversations feature Malaysia's Sharon Chin discussing her 2022 piece, and Estefanía Peñafiel Loaiza conversing with Afterall's Elisa Adami and CSM's Alex Schady about Spivak’s Can the Subaltern Speak? These videos are part of Afterall’s Art Pedagogy and ArtSchool programs, released from May 2022 to January 2024.

Key facts

  • The mvuata-mable is part of the CDA (Congo Design Arts) Project.
  • CDA covers textile and furniture design, fashion, and architecture.
  • Cedrick Nzolo describes the Sape as an art of living, seduction, and technique of being.
  • Prisca Tankwey presents on the Sape in relation to performance art and identity.
  • Sinzo Aanza explores the Improbable Memorial and colonial exploitation of Congo through mobile phones.
  • Sharon Chin spoke about her work Creatures on the Move (In the Death of the Night) (2022) on 31 January 2024.
  • Estefanía Peñafiel Loaiza discussed Gayatri Spivak’s Can the Subaltern Speak? on 11 April 2023.
  • The videos are hosted on Afterall.org and require accepting external cookies for YouTube content.

Entities

Artists

  • Cedrick Nzolo
  • Prisca Tankwey
  • Sinzo Aanza
  • Sharon Chin
  • Estefanía Peñafiel Loaiza
  • Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak
  • Elisa Adami
  • Alex Schady
  • Arianna Mercado
  • Camille Crichlow

Institutions

  • Afterall
  • Central Saint Martins (CSM)
  • Congo Design Arts (CDA) Project
  • CSM (Central Saint Martins)

Locations

  • Congo
  • Malaysia

Sources