Rubbish Fashion:
Street art costumes of Kinshasa – in pictures
In his series Fulu Act, Brussels-based documentary photographer Colin Delfosse captures street artists in Kinshasa, who craft striking costumes out of everyday objects found littering the streets, such as discarded wigs, wires, soda cans and bottle lids, to raise awareness of environmental issues facing the Democratic Republic of the Congo. “The statement behind their costumes is to condemn and inform about overconsumption and its side effects, namely pollution, poverty, lack of reliable investments and so on,” says Delfosse. “By capturing these images, I’m giving an echo to their crucial work.”
Colin Delfosse is shortlisted in the Sony world photography awards 2023. An exhibition of the photographs is at Somerset House, London, 14 April-1 May
Sat 25 Mar 2023 13.00 EDT
Congolese artist Hemock Kilomboshi posing in his rubber costume in Matonge district, Kinshasa. A member of the Kinact platform, Kilomboshi performs in Kinshasa’s streets to raise issues about globalisation and economic plunder in the DRC.
Congolese artist Jean Precy Numbi Samba, AKA Robot Kimbalambala, pictured in his costume made of car spare parts in the Ngiri-Ngiri district, Kinshasa, December 2019. The car market in the capital’s suburbs is mostly made of highly polluting secondhand (or thirdhand) vehicles from Europe.
Junior Lohaka Tshonga in his Bolole Nkemi (‘I’m the idiot’) costume. Junior Is a painter and performer trained at the Academy of Fine Arts in Kinshasa. For several years the artist has been working on the theme of plastic, recycling plastic bottles found in the rivers of Kinshasa.
Abdoulaye Kinzonzi Kiakanda posing in his plastic water bag costume in Selembao district, Kinshasa. In Kinshasa and throughout the country, itinerant street vendors sell sachets of drinking water. Once used, these bags are thrown on the ground, causing mountains of waste. Abdoulaye recycled them into a suit.
Falonne Mambu posing in her electric wires costume in Limete district, Kinshasa. As a performing artist, she raises issues about social development in her own country. The Democratic Republic of the Congo is potentially the biggest electricity provider in sub-Saharan Africa. Unfortunately, decay and corruption have crippled the national Inga dam, which only works to the minimum of its capacity. Nowadays, only 19% of Congolese people have access to electricity.
Artist Junior Lohaka Tshonga posing in his spacesuit in Kinshasa. His suit is a metaphor for protection against ambient pollution in the city – a way to protect the body from toxic materials.
Congolese artist Florian Sinanduku posing in his pill costume in Selembao district. ‘In Kinshasa, and in the whole country, finding medicine is still a big issue. You never know where it comes from and what it is made of. You can find pills everywhere, but most of them are coming from China, and came here without any control,’ says Sinanduku.
Artist Nada Thsibwabwa posing in his mobile phone costume in Matongé district, Kinshasa. Thirty per cent of coltan, a key mineral for smartphone production, comes from the DRC. Yet every new smartphone has to be imported to the DRC at high cost. Kinshasa is a big market for secondhand phones from all ever the world. In Matongé, a whole market is dedicated to repairing old phones.