The project Ex Situ by the Salento artist Luigi Coppola, curated by Lucrezia Cippitelli (Artistic Director of Ateliers Picha and curator of the 7th Lubumbashi Biennial) and Ramdom, produced by Ramdom, and realised with the support of the Italian Council (10th Edition, 2021) programme for the promotion of Italian contemporary art in the world of the Contemporary General Directorate of the Ministry of Culture, will take part in the 7th Lubumbashi Biennial entitled Toxicity in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

With Ex Situ, the artist reflects on the relationship between extractive activity and the exploitation of natural resources; on the toxicity of the lands affected by neo-colonial extractive practices; and on agro-ecology, a nodal theme for the Democratic Republic of Congo, where agricultural production and food sovereignty are non-existent following more than two decades of civil wars that have broken up the territories.

As in the press release by Atelier Picha reads:

«The Lubumbashi Biennial explores the contemporary creation of the art scene in the Democratic Republic of Congo and around the world. Today, it is one of the most dynamic and experimental art events on the African continent. For its next edition, the biennial will question Toxicity as a condition of existence that inextricably affects social worlds under the title ‘ToxiCité’ or ‘ToxiCity’. As a starting point, the theme will open up the collective elaboration of a critical and transformative look at the social and cultural environment, in Lubumbashi and around the world.

Composed of two concepts, that of ” Toxic ” and that of ” City “, the forthcoming Lubumbashi Biennial intends to question and reflect on the link between contemporary life in the post-colonial urban context of Lubumbashi and more generally in the global urban South and the impact of a range of industrial, economic, ecological, social and cultural processes that have historically contributed, for better or worse, to the shape and dynamics of urban life in this region and elsewhere in the world today. (…)

Focusing on the theme of toxicity, the curatorial committee of this edition strives to open up a critical space of artistic engagement and reflection to begin exploring the possible forms this ‘inventory of traces’ might take, in the hope that such a compilation will also tell us more about possible futures to consider from now on.»

The project is also curated  in collaboration with CAD+ sr (centre for arts, design and social research) (Boston, USA); Royal Institute of Art (Stockholm, Sweden); IASPIS Swedish Arts Grants Committee’s international programme for Visual and Applied Artists, (Stockholm, Sweden); Framer Framed (Utrecht, The Netherlands); Arts Catalyst (Sheffield, UK); Wiels (Brussels, Belgium).