Baudouin Mouanda
Baudouin Mouanda was born in 1981 in Brazzaville, the Republic of Congo. He lives and works between Brazzaville and Paris. Since he began shooting in 1993, the artist has been portraying the joys and sorrows of his country with poetic and uncompromising vision.
He has won multiple prizes including Roger-Pic Prize 2022, Singulart Awards 2022, Alliance Française and EFTI International Photography Competition 2020, Academy of Fine Arts in Kinshasa, Blachère Foundation Prize and the Young talent support from Bolloré Africa Logistics. His work is found in numerous collections including Blachère Foundation, Bolloré Logistics, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston and The Contemporary African Art Collection (Jean Pigozzi), the Museum of the Zinsou Foundation, the Confluence Museum Lyon and the Art Institute of Chicago. He has exhibited internationally in galleries, festivals and biennials including Gasworks, London, Paris Photo, Rencontres de Bamako, Rencontres d’Arles, Planches Contact Festival, Dak’Art, Dakar. Since 2018, Mouanda has been self-funding the construction of a cultural space in Brazzaville that will offer a library for children, a training room for visual arts, a professional photo laboratory, and an exhibition space.
Baudouin Mouanda has been photographing the Sapeurs (Societe des Ambianceurs et des Personnel Elegantes (the society of ambiance-makers and elegant people) in Brazzaville since 2008. According to La Sape legend, in 1922 a local man returned home to Congo from Paris dressed as a French “Monsieur”. His incongruous appearance in the style of the roaring twenties jazz musicians, at a time when many Congolese people were poorly dressed servants in the French colony, was shocking and surreal. But it initiated a social movement in Brazzaville - servants began to dress in defiance of colonial superiority, leading to the development of the political symbolism and ideology of les Sapeurs. The appearance of members of the Sape today still serves as an expression against poverty in Congo, a gesture of taking control by bringing cultural richness to a bleak existence. With Les Sapeurs de Bacongo, Mouanda is interested in capturing movement and body dynamics. He notices the details expressed in the choice of a cut, or in colours that clash. Expressiveness, faces, the strength of a look. For Mouanda, in these “improbable moments of grace” the Sape embodies a mode of expression for a disruptive generation that imposes its own codes, turning fashion into a popular show to change the world for the better, even if only for a moment.
The concept for Le Ciel De Saison was born amidst Mouanda’s confinement during the pandemic when the Artist decided to construct striking mise en scène that speak of the catastrophic effects of flooding, bringing to light how deeply vulnerable Africa is to environmental degradation and extreme climatic events. Specifically, he worked in his home town of Brazzaville, in the Republic of Congo, a place regularly affected by torrential rain and floods, constantly at the mercy of Mother Nature. Due to the danger and complexity of photographing the neighbourhoods during these times of deluge, Mouanda cleverly used a flooded basement to recreate the consequences of these disasters. Shot using natural light against backdrops painted in bright colours, the scenes are enacted with the help of Brazzaville locals, both adults and children, who pose alongside their personal items. The protagonists look calmly and directly into the photographer's camera, radiating a mixture of suffering, hardship and strength. Whether reproducing schools, street stalls or domestic spaces, it’s a surreal, protracted instant, and one that offers immense emotive and visual power—reflections abound, worlds are turned upside down.
The climate emergency is a pressing theme and many contemporary artists are using their practice to shine a light on the ill effects of human actions, with tangible urgency. With Le Ciel de Saison, Mouanda uses the immediacy of portraiture to tell stories that shake us from our complacency, inviting us to connect with humanity and awaken our innate obligation to preserve and respect the fragile planet we call home.
