Belgium / 2021 / 39mins / Documentary / Lingala, Swahili and French

Kasongo (Im)Materiel explores the forgotten history of the Swahili-Arab in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Their trajectory from oppressors to oppressed along with the local adoption of their culture and language mirror the tensions and ambivalence of history and heritage. Interweaving scenes from excavations with archival material and contemporary recordings, an archaeologist and a photographer engage with the affective impact of that which persists from the past into the present.

Noemie Arazi

Noemie Arazi was born in Beirut, Lebanon, and studied archaeology at University College London. She has been working in West and Central Africa for the past 20 years. Her practice combines archaeological and ethnographic data with the collection of oral histories and memories, participant observation, and archival research. More recently, she has focused on cultural heritage preservation in connection with infrastructure and mining projects. In 2016, she founded Groundworks—a non-profit organization that seeks to widen reflection and activate access to heritage and history, by working with individuals and groups of people from different backgrounds and disciplines. Learn More

Georges Senga

Georges Senga, born in Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of Congo, is a photographer. His work focuses on history and personal stories that reveal themselves in memory, identity, and heritage, shedding light on our actions in the present. Three of his projects explore memory and search for the resonances that people, their actions, and objects leave behind, and the resilience of memory in his country, Congo. His work has been presented in various solo and group exhibitions for which he has won numerous prizes. He is currently in residence at the Villa Medici in Rome. Learn More