Leopoldville 1942 – Guilherme Marques helps launch Academie des Beaux-Arts

A few years ago, I posted a piece about Guilherme d’Oliveira Marques, known as the “Painter of the Congo” (May 17, 2017). It was prompted by a serendipitous find of an old photo of his house. Today, in a similar vein, while researching another topic, I learned about his role in helping start what is now the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Kinshasa.

One of the ateliers at the Academie des Beaux-Arts in Kinshasa (author coll.)

In 1942, Brother Marc Wallenda of the Frères des Ecoles Chrétiennes at Gombe Matadi mission near contemporary Mbanza Ngungu in Congo Central Province, had finally realized his dream of starting an art school at the mission. Previous construction starts had been re-prioritized for uses deemed more important by the mission’s hierarchy. Now the walls were up, but lack of funds meant the roof would have to be thatch rather than galvanized metal, the norm at Catholic missions at the time. On a visit to Leopoldville, Brother Marc met Marques and the latter proposed they organize an exhibition of his paintings as a fund raiser, to which Marques donated over 60 pieces. The event was held in the new hall at College Albert (Jan. 17, 2012) on a Sunday morning and by 4:30 pm, all the paintings were sold out. Brother Wallenda had his new roof.

Gombe Matadi in the 1940s (author coll.)

The Centre Culturel at College Albert, now College Boboto (author coll.)

Marques painting of the old city market ca. 1943 (author coll.)

The new school was inaugurated at Gombe Matadi August 15, 1943. The following month, the first students, Andre Lufwa Mawidi and Jacob Wineguane, were admitted. From the outset, Brother Wallenda discouraged reproduction of traditional sculpture, but encouraged the young artists to develop their own styles. Two years later, he took some of his own paintings to Leopoldville for another fund raiser, and like the event with Marques, the paintings sold out, enabling the purchase of proper tools, instruments and materials. Another exhibition in 1946 added funds for the young institution. 

It was becoming clear to Wallenda that a growing art school would be better placed in Leopoldville than in rural Bas-Congo. In 1949, the Colonial Minister granted 10 hectares on Ave. Josephine Charlotte (Ave. de la Liberation) for the school. Brother Marc had to switch to his fund-raiser and builder mode again. Two years later, the first buildings were completed and the school was accredited as the “Ecole officielle des Beaux-Arts Saint-Luc”, a reference to Wallenda’s alma mater in Liege. A painting program was added to the sculpture section in 1950, pottery in 1953 and architectural design in 1958. Andre Lufwa became the first Congolese member of the teaching staff.

Brother Wallenda and Andre Lufwa (eventsrdc.com)

Lufwa produced the “Batteur du Tam-Tam”, a white cement sculpture placed at the entrance of the first Foire International de Kinshasa (FIKIN) in 1969 (Mar. 20, 2015). Other works include the imitation stone Leopards at the entrance to the Presidential Gardens on Mont Ngaliema, and “Voyageur” on the grounds of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Lufwa never received any royalties for his work. He continued to work with his son, Bernard, also a sculptor, at their atelier in Commune Ngaliema.

Batteur du Tam-Tam - 2017 (author coll.)

Lufwa's Leopards at the Presidential Gardens - 1973 (author coll.)

Even though he was a member of the intellectual property body SOCODA, founded in 2011, Lufwa was thwarted in his pursuit of compensation for his work, by his estimation over one million US dollars. In 2019, Lufwa, now 94, appealed to the new President Felix Tshisekedi to establish his royalty rights. In early January 2020, hospitalized at Clinique Ngaliema, a journalist noted with irony that the Ministry of Foreign Commerce was investing $1.3 million to rehabilitate the FIKIN complex. Lufwa died January 13, 2020. At the end of February, the Academie des Beaux-Arts memorialized the artist in a ceremony on the campus and a bust of the artist was placed outside the sculpture building.

Andre Lufwa and Tam-Tam model (La Prosperite)

Memorial service for Prof. Lufwa, Academie des Beaux-Arts (congocreation.com)

Bust of Brother Wallenda, Academie des Beaux-Arts (author coll.)

Sources: 

• Biographie Belge d’Outre-Mer, 2015. « Wallenda (Victor Arnold) dit Frere Marc-Stanislas”. 
• Eventsrdc.com, May 12, 2019. https://www.eventsrdc.com/le-cri-de-detresse-dandre-lufwa-a-fatshi-je-demande-au-president-de-simpliquer-personnellement-afin-que-je-percoive-mes-droits/ 
• La Prosperite, Jan. 9, 2020. “Concepteur du batteur de tam-tam de la FIKIN : L’artiste André Lufwa entre la vie et la mort ! «