"Diplomacy & Development" Interview with the Congolese Artist from the DRC, Hervé Mbelo about his artistic career and his qualification for the 9th Beijing International Art Biennial to be held in China in 2022 (January - March)
The Artist of the DRC, Hervé MBELO was qualified among a total of 5,352 artists from 124 countries, to participate with his work “The Beauty of the Games” in the “9th International Beijing Art Biennial”.
The 9th Beijing International Art Biennial will be held in China in 2022 (January - March) and is organized as part of the 2022 Winter Olympics, with the theme The Light of Life. Submissions of visual art (painting and sculpture) have been invited from artists around the world.
The Beijing Biennale attracts works of art from all over the world and selects masterpieces by influential artists. The works on display are mainly paintings and sculptures. A number of videos and installations are also acceptable. As part of the cultural activities of the 2022 Winter Olympics, the 9th Beijing Biennale will also select paintings, sculptures and installations according to the needs of the branch sites (some works donated from previous sessions of the Biennale from Beijing that correspond to the theme of the 9th session will also be included).
In this context, "Diplomacy & Development" approached Hérvé Mbelo to discuss with him in an Interview, the evolution of his artistic career and of his participation in the 9th Beijing International Art Biennial will be held in China in 2022 (January - March) organized as part of the 2022 Winter Olympics, with the theme "The light of life".
Diplomacy & Development : How did you feel after learning that you will participate with your work "The Beauty of the Games" at the "9th Beijing International Art Biennial" and what does this participation represent for you?
Hervé Mbelo : Being qualified among nearly 5,352 artists from 124 countries in the world in an international art biennial like the one in Beijing, which enjoys the reputation of the largest art biennial in the world, can only arouse in me a feeling of the greatest consideration and confirmation as an artist who wants to be universal. This participation also represents for me the presence and confirmation of the Democratic Republic of Congo in major international artistic meetings through my work of art because I am the only Congolese artist selected for this event.
Diplomacy & Development: How do you find life in China? Are you able to adapt?
Hervé Mbelo: Each country has its own pace and way of life which you just have to adapt to. China is a very complex country, a terrain of diverse possibilities for scientific, artistic, economic and cultural experience. Life in China is peaceful when you are subject to compliance with laws and regulations. Adaptation is also linked to communication where Mandarin and Englishare languages that allow better social integration. For a foreigner who comes from a French-speaking country, adaptation must begin with mastering these two languages, not to mention climates and others.
Diplomacy & Development: How do you find the quality of higher education in China where you are currently doing your Masters at China Academy of Art?
Hervé Mbelo : Higher education in China is a whole system well structured by research based on innovation where there is a relation and / or a close link between the discoveries or the creativities provided in the studies and the needs of the society, of humanity. Professors and students work in synergy. Following the example of my school, a master's student is a personality who enjoys an artistic and scientific maturity approved having a coherent discourse in his creations with a concept that he wishes to use differently in the face of the problems facing the school. humanity in order to find solutions.
Diplomacy & Development : What are your future projects in the field of art and education knowing that you are a visual artist and assistant at the Academy of Fine Arts in Kinshasa?
Hervé Mbelo : I spent more than three years of training, scientific, artistic and cultural experience in the People's Republic of China, which is renowned as one of the most developed and more stable countries today. In the days to come, I will put at the service of my country, the DRC, everything I could shop for in the field of art and education. This encompasses everything.
Diplomacy & Development : What would you like to see done to improve your work as an artist and teacher by China, the DRC and potential partners?
Hervé Mbelo : For teaching, within the framework of education, China is already providing scholarships, a very significant gesture but one which asks for even more. The DRC, beyond the expressed will to deal with the sectors of culture and education, it should moreover take action by considering the construction of theaters and exhibitions, national and local museums. , to the revitalization of the educational, artistic and cultural system to support artistic and scientific creations.
Cultural exchange partnerships, reflection workshops between the DRC and China as well as other potential partners are desired in order to allow the Congolese authorities to have an idea of the power of investment abounding in cultural goods and activities. in other countries to be able to integrate them in the DRC while keeping the Congolese cultural originality. In this month of December, within the framework of cultural and artistic activities between Chinese and foreign artists, I had to visit the province of Tibet in China where I saw how China gives pride of place to cultural goods and activities and artistic by equipping them with major buildings such as museums, exhibition halls, performance halls, rehearsal complexes and creation spaces by making these places tourist sites that generate visibility and economy to the nation and to other artists.
Diplomacy & Development : Tell us about your school and academic course?
Hervé Mbelo : I did my primary studies at the Kinzazi Catholic school in the commune of Matete and at La Paix Boboto school groups in the commune of Bandalungwa where in 1999, I obtained my primary school certificate with distinction as school laureate. Passionate about art since my early years, I was discovered by my late Uncle Peter Musongela who brought me to the Institute of Fine Arts in Kinshasa (Académie des Beaux-Arts) in order to have a good base in the field of the art in which the gift is innate to me. It is from there that I did my secondary studies where in 2005 I obtained my State diploma in Fine Arts, painting option.
My higher studies, still in the same painting sector, this time at the Academy of Fine Arts in Kinshasa, will be shone by achievements in mention "Distinction" graduate in 2008 and "Distinction" in license in 2010. These results, combined with diligent work, will encourage the Académie des Beaux-Arts de Kinshasa to hire me as a teacher (Assistant) in the Painting department since 2012. From 2013 to 2018, I headed the secretariat of the Department of Painting with as Heads of Department, Professor Henri KALAMA, the current Director General of the Academy of Fine Arts of Kinshasa and the Head of Works Pierre KAZOLOKO. It is in 2018 that the Academy of Fine Arts will choose me in order to further my studies in China. In 2021, I participated in the making of the comic strip of the Congolese Community in Formation in China "journey of a dream" as a Screenwriter. Today, I am in the final year of my Masters at China Academy of Art.
Diplomacy & Development : What are the positive and negative aspects of the profession of artist and teacher?
Hervé Mbelo : I can only speak about the positive aspects in a profession that you choose yourself because the negative aspects could otherwise be defined as circumstances which stoke the fire of experience and mastery in the profession.
Being an artist and a teacher at the same time requires both physical and mental energies. Art and teaching together share faculties and values such as sense of research, transmission of knowledge, vocation, dedication, innovation. The existence of man is renewed by the desire for discovery; The practice of art and education promotes the renewal of human existence through education and culture which, these, constitute the soul and the foundation of a country. Hence, the profession of artist and that of teacher have many more advantages and advantages.
Diplomacy & Development : Your final word for this interview?
Hervé Mbelo : I am very happy with the interest that was given to me by the “Diplomacy and Development” team to inquire about my student, artistic and academic life (as a teacher), as well as my selection for participation in the 9th Beijing International Art Biennial. The questions that have been aptly put to me undoubtedly define the scope of your name "Diplomacy and Development". I encourage all artists in general, Congolese visual artists in particular and researchers with specific goals in their careers, not to tire of digging into the depths, not to be afraid of the unknown because in the search for the night, the light of discovery and success is never slow to shine.
Cassien Tribunal Aungane, Editor
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