Water Problem

Item

Title (Dublin Core)
Water Problem
creator (VRA Ontology)
Chéri Samba
birth date (VRA Ontology)
1956
location of (VRA Ontology)
Democratic Republic of the Congo
date created (VRA Ontology)
2004
description (VRA Ontology)
Acrylic on canvas, 53 1/8 × 78 3/4" (135 × 200 cm)
caption (VRA Ontology)
"According to the United Nations Environment Program, the Democratic Republic of the Congo is Africa’s most “water-rich” nation. Yet, in recent years, more than seventy percent of the country’s population has faced an acute shortage of clean drinking water. Long focused on issues affecting Congolese society, Samba’s painting includes texts in French and Lingala that reference conditions of existence brought about by rapid modernization. Here the artist represents himself on a rocket leaving Earth to look for water on Mars. Suggestive both for its political overtones and in the search’s ultimate futility, the artist proposes an intentionally unrealistic solution to his country’s ills, underscoring how urgently humanity must adjust its relationship with the environment." -Gallery Label from 2019 (MoMA)
material (VRA Ontology)
acrylic paintings (visual works)
donator (VRA Ontology)
The Jean Pigozzi Collection of African Art