Renzo Martens

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Renzo Martens at KW Berlin.

Renzo Martens (born 1973 in Terneuzen) is a Dutch artist who currently lives and works in Amsterdam and Kinshasa. Martens became known for his provocations, including Episode III: Enjoy Poverty (2008), a documentary that suggests that the Congo market their poverty as a natural resource.[1] In 2010 Renzo Martens initiated the (IHA) that postulates a gentrification program on a palm oil plantation in the Congolese rainforest.

Biography[]

Renzo Martens (1973, Terneuzen) studied Political Science at the University of Nijmegen and art at the Royal Academy of Ghent and the Gerrit Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam.

Martens made his first film, Episode 1, in 2000, in Grozny, Chechnya, in the war zone. Aiming to show how people who look into war zones are more interested in themselves and their own image than in the suffering of the people, Martens walked around with a camera while women were collecting aid packages, and asked them, "What do you think of me?"[2]

In 2010 Martens got approved as an artist-in-residence at the ISCP program in New York.[3] In 2013 the artist attended the Yale World Fellow Program, the leadership program of Yale University.[2] Martens is currently working on a PhD in the arts at the School of Arts in Ghent.[4]

Work[]

Episode III: Enjoy Poverty[]

This film opened the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) in 2009. Episode III: Enjoy Poverty articulates a comment on political claims of contemporary art by referring to its own strategy. The film was shown in art events and venues such as the Centre Pompidou, The Berlin Biennial, Manifesta 7, The Moscow Biennial, Tate Modern, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, 19th Biennale of Sydney and several prestigious film festivals. Azu Nwagbogu (curator Zeitz MOCAA) called the film "The Guernica of our age."[5]

Institute for Human Activities[]

Martens initiated (IHA) in 2010 and is commissioned as the artistic director of the institute. IHA's goal is to prove that artistic critique on economic inequality can redress it – not symbolically, but in material terms.[6] The IHA attempt to improve the lives of people around the art center by effectuating a gentrification program. Since 2014, it works in close collaboration with the Cercle d’Art des Travailleurs de Plantation Congolaise (CATPC), a cooperative of plantation workers that develops new ecological initiatives based on the production of art.

Opening Seminar[]

In 2012 IHA organised an Opening Seminar on a palm oil plantation in Boteka, DR Congo. Congolese and international speakers gathered at the plantation to discuss the history of the plantation, gentrification, and the possibilities for art to deal meaningfully with the conditions of its own existence. For two days, two-hundred people from the local community participated in a conference with art historian TJ Demos, philosopher Marcus Steinweg, activist René Ngongo, architect Eyal Weizman, economist Jérome Mumbanza, curator Nina Möntmann, anthropologist Katrien Pype, and artist Emmanuel Botalatala. Urban theorist Richard Florida delivered the keynote lecture via satellite.[7]

Exhibitions[]

IHA has facilitated the global dissemination of works of CATPC in the art world, which resulted in exhibitions in places such as the Van Abbemuseum in Eindhoven, Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art, Artes Mundi in Cardiff, and Kunst-Werke in Berlin. In January 2017, the cooperative opened its US debut at the SculptureCenter in New York. After earlier reviews in Artforum and The New York Times by amongst others Claire Bishop, Princeton professor Chika Okeke-Agulula heated the debate by questioning if this was "The latest frontier in the Western art world’s self-congratulatory and all-too-sporadic missionary work?"[8][9][10] The final verdict was made by The New York Times, compiling the show as 'The Best Art of 2017'[11]

The Matter of Critique[]

The IHA started the international conference series titled The Matter of Critique to address the material conditions of critical artistic engagement. Through these conferences, the IHA brings together academics, artists, and economists, as well as the Congolese plantations workers to discuss the artistic, social, and economic scope of the IHA's activities in Congo. The IHA initiated its first international conference in 2015 in KW Institute for Contemporary Art[12] and in Lusanga.[13] The third edition of The Matter of Critique took place in 2016—again in Lusanga.[14] The fourth edition took place in SculptureCenter, New York on January 29, 2017,[15] with notably Ariella Azoulay, Simon Gikandi, David Joselit, Michael Taussig and CATPC artist Matthieu Kasiama.

The Repatriation of the White Cube[]

On April 21, 2017, IHA and CATPC opened a White Cube[16] on the site of Unilever's first ever palm oil plantation, in Lusanga (formerly Leverville) in the Congolese interior. Designed by OMA, this White Cube is the cornerstone of the Lusanga International Research Centre for Art and Economic Inequality (LIRCAEI).[17] During the opening, plantation workers held discussions on the benefits of a White Cube for a plantation with philosopher Suhail Malik, curator Clémentine Deliss, curator Azu Nwagbogu, the president of CATPC René Ngongo, and the Indonesian plantation workers union Serbundo.

In a discussion broadcast by ZDF with the artists Monica Bonvicini, Hans Haacke, and Renzo Martens, curator at large of dokumenta 14 Bonaventure Ndikung commented on this project that "Afrika does not need a White Cube".[18]

Inaugural exhibition "The Repatriation of the White Cube"[]

CATPC has curated the inaugural exhibition of the White Cube in a network of Kisendus – traditional huts, especially built for the show, dedicated to arts and social events – linked to the White Cube. Different pieces referred to the D.R. Congo's rich history but had until then never been exhibited in the Congo. Participating artists included: Kader Attia, Sammy Baloji, Vitshois Mwilambwe Bondo, Marlene Dumas, Michel Ekeba, Eléonore Hellio, Carsten Höller, Irène Kanga, Matthieu Kasiama, Jean Katambayi, Jean Kawata, Mbuku Kimpala, Thomas Leba, Jérémie Mabiala, Daniel Manenga, Mega Mingiedi, Eméry Mohamba, Cédrick Tamasala, Pathy Thsindele and Luc Tuymans.[19]

Post-Plantation[]

The opening of the museum marked the end of its first research programme on gentrification, to start a new research programme on the creation of the "post-plantation". Together with Commonland, it currently aims to create a new ecological and economic model based on art.

Awards[]

  • 2017: Visible Award (shortlisted, with the )[20]
  • 2015: Witteveen+Bos-prijs voor Kunst+Techniek
  • 2015: Amsterdamprijs voor de Kunst
  • 2013: Yale World Fellow [21]
  • 2013: Culture Documentary Stipend [22]
  • 2010: Flanders cultural award for Film [23]
  • 2010: Incentive Price of Dutch Film Fund [24]

References[]

  1. ^ Boucher, Brian (November 1, 2016). "Congolese Sculptors Redirect Capital to the Plantation". Artnet News. Retrieved March 25, 2018.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b Jeffries, Stuart (16 December 2014). "Renzo Martens – the artist who wants to gentrify the jungle". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
  3. ^ ISCP Archived 2014-02-23 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ KASK Archived 2014-02-22 at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ Balie, De (2016-11-19), Renzo Martens - Beeldbepalers - De Balie x IDFA Special, retrieved 2017-12-13
  6. ^ IHA
  7. ^ "Interview Richard Florida at Opening Seminar". Vimeo. Retrieved 2017-12-08.
  8. ^ Balie, De (2016-11-19), Renzo Martens - Beeldbepalers - De Balie x IDFA Special, retrieved 2017-12-13
  9. ^ Kennedy, Randy (2017-02-02). "Chocolate Sculpture, With a Bitter Taste of Colonialism". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2017-12-13.
  10. ^ Bishop, Claire. "Claire Bishop on Cercle d'Art des Travailleurs de Plantation Congolaise". artforum.com. Retrieved 2017-12-13.
  11. ^ Smith, Roberta; Cotter, Holland; Farago, Jason (2017-12-06). "The Best Art of 2017". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2017-12-13.
  12. ^ "Renzo Martens. The Matter of Critique – KW Institute for Contemporary Art". KW Institute for Contemporary Art. 2015-05-02. Retrieved 2017-12-08.
  13. ^ "MoC II - Institute for Human Activities". www.humanactivities.org. Retrieved 2017-12-08.
  14. ^ "MoC III - Institute for Human Activities". www.humanactivities.org. Retrieved 2017-12-08.
  15. ^ SculptureCenter. "SculptureCenter Event - SC Conversations: Matter of Critique Part IV". www.sculpture-center.org. Retrieved 2017-12-08.
  16. ^ Hegert, Natalie (2017-05-11). "How an OMA-Designed Art Museum Just Opened in a Remote Town in the DRC". Artsy. Retrieved 2017-11-03.
  17. ^ "The White Cube". www.lircaei.art (in Dutch). Retrieved 2017-11-03.
  18. ^ ""Das braucht der afrikanische Kontinent nicht!"". www.zdf.de (in German). Retrieved 2017-12-13.
  19. ^ "The White Cube". www.lircaei.art. Retrieved 2017-12-08.
  20. ^ "Shortlist". visibleproject. 2017-08-04. Retrieved 2017-12-08.
  21. ^ Yale World Fellow
  22. ^ press release Prins Bernhard cultuurfonds, 26/05/2013
  23. ^ Cultuurprijs Vlaanderen 2009
  24. ^ Stimulans Prijs Film

External links[]

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