Café Kuba

Café Kuba / David Shongo - Photo: David Shongo

Theme Exhibition

Exhibit

Café Kuba

David Shongo (CD)

Café Kuba by David Shongo explores the act of creation in a context of war, collective trauma, and political instability. Filmed in Kinshasa after the fall of Goma and Bukavu to rebel forces, Shongo invents a new creative approach: a form of “fugitive art”—an aesthetic gesture born out of urgency, rooted in the vital need to create while evading authoritarian repression. He repurposes a street coffee cart into a mobile, poetic, and political recording device. This cart becomes the central protagonist, capturing the city’s pulses, bodies, and invisible tensions. Through a poetic visual language and immersive 3D sound design, the installation immerses the viewer in an intimate, fragile, and politically charged urban choreography of Kinshasa.

  • David Shongo

    David Shongo, composer and contemporary artist from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, explores the interaction between sound and image, highlighting their poetic impact. He examines the influence of colonial fiction on memory, revealing historical, political, and economic dynamics, as well as traumas and cultural dissonances. His work combines sound, cinema, digital art, and visual art. He founded the Pianos de Kinshasa Festival and co-founded Studio 1960.

Credits

Written & Directed by David Shongo | Produced by Tommy Simoens Gallery & Studio 1960 | Executive Producers: Tommy Simoens & David Shongo I Production Management: Olga Sherazade Pitton | Assistant Directors: Kevine Booto & Divin Kayanga | Cinematography: David Shongo | DoP: Kevin Booto | Costume Design: Divin Kayanga | Sound Recording: Djoe Wamba | Sound Engineering: David Shongo | With: Christian Tamba, Celeo, a.o. This project is awarded in the context of State of the ART(ist), a collaboration between the Austrian Ministry for European and International Affairs and Ars Electronica.

Please note: The program for the Ars Electronica Festival 2025 is still in progress.
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