Mukenge / Schellhammer
Opening: 14.08.2026, 7 pm
Duration: 14.08.2025 – 01.11.2026
Curated by Nadia Ismail
In cooperation with the Musée de l’art contemporain et de Multimedia à l’Echangeur de Limete, Kinshasa, and the Goethe-Institut Kinshasa
Christ Mukenge and Lydia Schellhammer develop a collaborative practice between Kinshasa and Berlin that resists clear geographical attribution. Their works encompass digital and analogue painting and drawing, experimental videos, multimedia installations, and performance. In the friction between their different cultural backgrounds, visual narratives emerge that intertwine personal experiences with collective histories and render visible the contradictions of our (neo-)colonial and postcolonial present. The exhibition is realized in cooperation with the Musée de l’art contemporain, Kinshasa, and the Goethe-Institut Kinshasa, and builds on the presentation shown there in March 2026.
Mukenge/Schellhammer consists of Christ Mukenge (*1988, Kinshasa, DR Congo) and Lydia Schellhammer (*1992, Konstanz). The duo lives and works between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Germany. Their practice is shaped by the encounter of Congolese and Western painting traditions—from Congolese Académisme through counter-movements such as Partagisme and urban performance practices from Kinshasa to Surrealism and contemporary popular culture. In the post-digital age, Mukenge/Schellhammer consistently extend painting into other media such as AR, VR, video, and performance.
By co-signing their works, they subvert common notions of authorship, artistic tradition, and geographical attribution. From years of collaboration, a third visual language has emerged: the imagery of the “Duo,” an autonomous, hybrid entity with its own specific aesthetics, shaped by present-day conditions and contradictions. Expectations placed on the Congolese-German collective are met less with explicit political positions than with formal, artistic strategies. Continuous processes of translation play a central role, manifesting themselves in multilingual publications, performances, and videos.
Mukenge/Schellhammer’s works have been shown internationally, including at the pan-African video festival BodaBoda Lounge (2020), the National Museum of Kinshasa (2021), ifa Gallery Stuttgart (2022), the Yango Biennale Kinshasa (2022), documenta fifteen (2022), Marta Herford (2024), the Fellbach Triennial (2025), and Galerie Barbara Thumm (2024). They were fellows of the Akademie Schloss Solitude in 2021/22 and the Kunststiftung Baden-Württemberg in 2023.
Mukenge/Schellhammer are represented by Galerie Barbara Thumm in Berlin.
Christ Mukenge and Lydia Schellhammer develop a collaborative practice between Kinshasa and Berlin that resists clear geographical attribution. Their works encompass digital and analogue painting and drawing, experimental videos, multimedia installations, and performance. In the friction between their different cultural backgrounds, visual narratives emerge that intertwine personal experiences with collective histories and render visible the contradictions of our (neo-)colonial and postcolonial present. The exhibition is realized in cooperation with the Musée de l’art contemporain, Kinshasa, and the Goethe-Institut Kinshasa, and builds on the presentation shown there in March 2026.
Mukenge/Schellhammer consists of Christ Mukenge (*1988, Kinshasa, DR Congo) and Lydia Schellhammer (*1992, Konstanz). The duo lives and works between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Germany. Their practice is shaped by the encounter of Congolese and Western painting traditions—from Congolese Académisme through counter-movements such as Partagisme and urban performance practices from Kinshasa to Surrealism and contemporary popular culture. In the post-digital age, Mukenge/Schellhammer consistently extend painting into other media such as AR, VR, video, and performance.
By co-signing their works, they subvert common notions of authorship, artistic tradition, and geographical attribution. From years of collaboration, a third visual language has emerged: the imagery of the “Duo,” an autonomous, hybrid entity with its own specific aesthetics, shaped by present-day conditions and contradictions. Expectations placed on the Congolese-German collective are met less with explicit political positions than with formal, artistic strategies. Continuous processes of translation play a central role, manifesting themselves in multilingual publications, performances, and videos.
Mukenge/Schellhammer’s works have been shown internationally, including at the pan-African video festival BodaBoda Lounge (2020), the National Museum of Kinshasa (2021), ifa Gallery Stuttgart (2022), the Yango Biennale Kinshasa (2022), documenta fifteen (2022), Marta Herford (2024), the Fellbach Triennial (2025), and Galerie Barbara Thumm (2024). They were fellows of the Akademie Schloss Solitude in 2021/22 and the Kunststiftung Baden-Württemberg in 2023.
Mukenge/Schellhammer are represented by Galerie Barbara Thumm in Berlin.