artist/ Benga

République démocratique du Congo (RDC)

Hyppolite Benga Nzau, who is known as Chéri Benga, has been painting for over 35 years, which makes him one of the elder statesmen of the current crop of Congolese painters. He is also one of the pioneers of popular art. Although the term is sometimes overused, in this case it is perfectly valid. In accordance with the meaning given by those who coined the term with Chéri Samba in mind, it designates a form of art that comes from the people – in the sense that artists draw inspiration from what they see around them – and can be understood by the people. Chéri Benga depicts scenes from everyday life with simplicity: people fighting, swaggering, dancing, people suffering when the power cuts out, people lacking everything.

The title that he has given himself embellished the façade of his former legendary studio on avenue Victoire – L’international! And, in fact, his art has enabled him to travel: to France in 2006 to the Fondation Blachère, to Louvain in 2010 and Antwerp in 2011, together with JP Mika to represent popular artists at group exhibitions; again, to Belgium in 2016, to Mauritius in 2017, and to Leipzig in Germany in 2019. His last exhibition in Kinshasa took place in 2019, a group exhibition as part of an event held by the Texaf-Bilembo cultural centre in tribute to the elder statesmen of popular painting.