Foreground: "Kinshasa Label"
by Bodys Ilek Kingelez

Along back wall: "Margem da Zona Limite"
by Antonio Ole

Foreground: Bodys Ilek Kingelez was born in 1948. He began his career in art as a mask restorer at the Dem. Republic of the Congo's National Museum in the 1980s. His works were included in the Centre Georges Pompidou's "Magiciens de la Terre" show in 1989, which gained him international recognition. Kingelez lives and works in Kinshasa.

Background: Antonio Ole was born in Luanda, Angola in 1951. His work has been shown in such exhibits as "Remote Connections", Art Focus, Jerusalem and "Contemporary Art from Southern Africa", Glasgow. Ole lives and works in Luanda.

Foreground: Using brightly-colored materials such as cardboard, tin foil, and labels to make models of individual buildings and even entire city plans, Kingelez seeks to design a modern utopia for urban African centers that bridges elements of the past, present and future. Kinshasa Label, a play on Kinshasa "La Belle" ("the beautiful" in French), with its tall spire and circular tip made from a label, promises to be an icon of beauty and pride for the city of Kinshasa, Congo.

Background: Antonio Ole visited a Brooklyn dump to find materials for this model of a shantytown, which reflects the dire living situations of those affected by apartheid.

Photo by Donnelly Markas