Visitors to the temples of modern art in global cities will be familiar with the white cube gallery space. But when one arises in the middle of a Congolese palm oil plantation, the effect is deeply disorienting. Furthermore, it draws attention to the often overlooked ties between colonialism and the art world, for example, through the multinationals that now proudly sponsor these Western museums. This Congolese arts center is part of artist Renzo Martens’s unorthodox plan to jump-start the local economy. Former workers at the plantation make sculptures that are reproduced in chocolate, and then exhibited in New York. The plantation workers, most of whom earn a dollar or less a day, use the profits from this successful exhibition to buy back the land confiscated from them by Unilever.
Movie / 2020
Movie / 1988
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Movie / 1988
Movie / 2022
Movie / 2005
Movie / 2019
Movie / 2016
Movie / 1979
Movie / 2018
Movie / 2019
Movie / 1972
Movie / 2008
Movie / 2007
Movie / 2011
Movie / 2011
Movie / 1974
Movie / 2021
Movie / 1991
Movie / 2019
Visitors to the temples of modern art in global cities will be familiar with the white cube gallery space. But when one arises in the middle of a Congolese palm oil plantation, the effect is deeply disorienting. Furthermore, it draws attention to the often overlooked ties between colonialism and the art world, for example, through the multinationals that now proudly sponsor these Western museums. This Congolese arts center is part of artist Renzo Martens’s unorthodox plan to jump-start the local economy. Former workers at the plantation make sculptures that are reproduced in chocolate, and then exhibited in New York. The plantation workers, most of whom earn a dollar or less a day, use the profits from this successful exhibition to buy back the land confiscated from them by Unilever.
Movie / 2020
Movie / 1988
Movie / 2017
Movie / 1988
Movie / 2022
Movie / 2005
Movie / 2019
Movie / 2016
Movie / 1979
Movie / 2018
Movie / 2019
Movie / 1972
Movie / 2008
Movie / 2007
Movie / 2011
Movie / 2011
Movie / 1974
Movie / 2021
Movie / 1991
Movie / 2019