Œuvre sans auteur

Œuvre sans auteur is rooted in Valentin-Yves Mudimbe’s critique in “From”Primitive Art” to “Memoriae Loci'” (1993), featured in The Mudimbe Reader (edited by Pierre-Philippe Fraiture and Daniel Orrells). Mudimbe challenges not only the label of “primitive art” but also the Western epistemic framework that interprets works based on their origin, creator, and classification. This critical perspective informs the artistic practices of Christ Mukenge and Lydia Schellhammer. By establishing the Mukenge/Schellhammer DUO as an autonomous entity, they shift the focus from individual authorship to the relationships, knowledge, and processes that enable the work’s creation. The image no longer appears as the expression of an individual intention but as the result of shared experiences, multiple artistic traditions, and ongoing processes of negotiation.

Building on the concept of the 9th Lubumbashi Biennale, which emphasizes indiscipline, Mukenge and Schellhammer designed their project as research that questions dominant epistemologies in art. Their practice aims to move beyond Western notions of author and origin to explore alternative ways of thinking, producing, and transmitting artistic forms. They concentrate on the relational, historical, and collective conditions that foster the emergence of a work.

In Lubumbashi, they expand this exploration by investigating the history of the Lubumbashi School and related pictorial movements. They specifically sought to question the legacies of colonial-era art workshops and academies, many rooted in the idea of a unique African aesthetic—perceived as fundamentally different from European art, as Pierre-Philippe Fraiture and Daniel Orrells mention in their introduction to The Mudimbe Reader. This research helps contextualize the continuities and disruptions between these historical constructs and current artistic practices in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.