(b. 1983, Democratic Republic of Congo)

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Thonton Kabeya captures the essence of African cosmopolitanism through his constructions of contemporary urban life using paint and canvas. Having travelled across the African continent extensively, Kabeya lived and worked as an artist in Paris, before settling in Johannesburg in 2014. Kabeya actively challenges his medium of paint and canvas, pursuing new and experimental ways to create texture, depth, and balance of colour. His process involves glueing layers of canvas together, which he then cuts, carves, and sculpts before painting. Kabeya finishes the work with transferred elements from newspapers, carefully positioned to indicate the folds of moving fabric, and the application of a deep brown walnut powder (an old method of staining wooden furniture) which renders skin, as well as balances the tonality of the work.

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Inspired by architecture and design, Kabeya's practice seeks balance in composition, line, and colour in his three-dimensional work. He creates portraits of people and cities alike, bustling street scenes and tender exchanges between individuals. His recent works have focused on rhumba dancing, inspired by the dance studios and clubs frequented by the artist. Rumba music is of Cuban origin, and gained enormous popularity in the Congo during the 1960s and 70s. Dance is a much-loved form of expression, and is in many ways a performance of personhood.

The Congolese rumba was recently added to UNESCO's intangible heritage list as "The rumba is considered an essential and representative part of the identity of Congolese people and its diaspora. It is perceived as a means of conveying the social and cultural values of the region and of promoting intergenerational and social cohesion and solidarity." - UNESCO, 2021.

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