On Monday 18 May, Kunsthal Extra City hosts the public PhD defence of artist and researcher Sammy Baloji.

Under the title Contemporary Kasala and Lukasa: towards a Reconfiguration of Identity and Geopolitics, Baloji presents a long-term artistic research project that starts from two traditional forms of knowledge transmission used within different Luba communities in the Democratic Republic of Congo: the kasala, a ceremonial praise poem, and the lukasa, a memory board used in ritual contexts.

These oral and visual systems are ways of carrying and sharing history, memory and identity. In his research, Baloji asks how such practices can be reactivated today, and how artistic work can help rethink fixed ideas of history and belonging.

The Luba communities connected to these traditions were separated during the colonial period through administrative borders between the former provinces of Kasai and Katanga. This historical division continues to shape questions of identity, connection and historical memory today.

Developed over five years, the PhD brings together artworks, research and visual documentation structured in several chapters, each focusing on a different aspect of the investigation.

These include the relationship between the former Kingdom of Kongo, Portugal and the Vatican (Missa Utica), the impact of colonial and postcolonial extraction on land and matter (Extracted Resources, Transformed Matter), and the role of storytelling and memory today through image, text and performance (Deconstructing Boundaries and Narratives).

The public defence takes place in the presence of an academic jury and is open to anyone interested.

Admission is free, but registration is required via this form.

If you can’t be there in person but would still like to follow the public defence, you can do so online via this link.

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THE PROGRAMME

14:00 Exhibition visit
15:00 Public defence
17:00 Reception

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The defence takes place in the context of Baloji’s exhibition Copper thread, Rubber thread, Sugar thread (17.04.26 – 16.08.26) at Kunsthal Extra City, where several strands of the doctoral research are brought together spatially and visually.