What do you heart when you listen to the earth? Belgian Congolese artist Léonard Pongo (b. 1988) has been roaming the Democratic Republic of Congo for almost 10 years, with this question in mind. The artist’s work is rooted in the nation’s traditions, symbolism and philosophy, embracing the idea that “not everything is visible.” His surreal, impossible images challenge traditional representations of the land and resist fixed narratives. Here, he pushes audiences into unfamiliar territory, asking them to “embrace the opacity of what the image refuses to show.” Pongo goes beyond the surface, drawing upon national and personal histories to tell the story of a nation. His latest exhibition is at FOMU, Antwerp, with a display borne from Pongo’s artistic research at Thinking Tools at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in the city.
Dialogue with the Source positions the land as “the ancestor, as an entity or almost a person.” The work is the result of time spent in nature, with no expectation to produce a specific piece or series. It’s an organic process from start to finish. People are often absent from his photographs, but the relationship between humans and the land lies at the heart of the work. During his journeys, Pongo collaborated with researchers and local communities whose stories and knowledge served as a key source of inspiration. A recurring motif is the banana tree, acting as a symbol of life, fertility and cyclical renewal. His approach produces images that are colourful and sometimes uncanny. They reveal the richness of Congo’s natural environment, while reminding audiences that their gaze is always partial and subjective.
The artist represented the Belgian Pavilion at the 2026 Venice Biennale, with the piece Inhabiting the Landscape (2023). In the piece, Pongo layers images captured with full-spectrum cameras printed on veil, fabrics and reflective surfaces, and a video projection that depicts the transition between visible and invisible Congolese landscapes. The elements interact, breathe and merge, evoking an incessant cycle of life and death. Art critic and curator Ange-Frédéric Koffi says: “In Léonard Pongo’s installations, scenes hover between presence and absence. Figures emerge only to dissolve; they drift like memories refusing to settle. This ambiguity is a way of inhabiting the world. In Congolese cosmogonies, the human co-exists horizontally with other species, a concept that operates as an invisible infrastructure to the artist’s work. Pongo’s mixed-media installations aim to sculpt space and create zones of resonance.”
Visitors step inside Pongo’s work at FOMU, inhabiting a space where photography, video and textiles combine to map the Congolese territory. The artist makes his experiences tangible, something that each individual can engage with and appreciate local communities and researchers, whose personal stories serve as the throughline of this nuanced and intricate exhibition.
Léonard Pongo: Dialogue with the Source is at FOMU, Antwerp until 17 January: fomu.be
Words: Emma Jacob
Image Credits:
All images © Leonard Pongo.
