Maurice Mbikayi
Artist Statement
My work is related to identity and history, and seeks to interrogate people’s origins and boundaries – how these can be renegotiated and recontextualised in different socio-political environments. I also investigate the impacts of contemporary technology on humanity, especially Africans.
I focus on various ways in which the technological advancement of the last twenty years has both positively and negatively affected the world. Its reliance on mining for resources, for instance, has made Africa and its people vulnerable to low-wage labour abuse as well as a range of other factors beyond their control, as dictated by international economic markets. The effect on cultural and environmental diversity has been devastating.
Narcisurfing Netizenship.
I collect remnants of this rapidly developing technology and incorporate them in my work. I use many other materials too, such as wood, fibre glass, plaster of paris, bandages, paper and clothing. The results include mixed-media collages, drawings, sculptures and performances – whatever best questions the issues and expresses my ideas.(text website artist)
Fashionable Addiction, book.
Maurice Mbikayi was born in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, and today lives and works in Cape Town, South Africa. In 2000 he graduated with a BA in Graphic Design (Advertising and Visual Communication), from the Academies des Beaux Arts in Kinshasa. He has completed his Master of Fine Art degree (with distinction) in 2015 at the Michaelis School of Fine Art, University of Cape Town.
Mbikayi was selected as a core participant in the ‘Between the Lines’ symposium, an exchange between Michaelis and the Braunschweig University of Art in Germany. He also took part in the Spier Contemporary 2010 biennale presented by the Africa Centre in Cape Town and the Hollard Creative Exchange program of 2010-2011. In 2010 he was selected by the Alliance Française for a travelling solo exhibition in South Africa, Swaziland and Mozambique. He was awarded a three-month residency at IAAB in Basel, Switzerland by Pro Helvetia South Africa.(courtesy and text MOMO Gallery, Joburg/Cape Town)