nd fine art photographer of the year 2023
Kriss Munsya canada
title
Genetic Bomb
conceptually developing for many years. This interrogation has evolved into a photography
series that I have been working on since the beginning of 2022 and that I will shoot in
November and December 2022 in the Congo (DRC). My own life and experiences have
inspired me to take this project from concept to artistic creation.
I was born in Kinshasa, DRC and moved with my parents to Belgium when I was two years
old. Like many people who have experienced similar emigrations, I carry generational guilt,
confusion and disenchantment. Guilt of being a chosen one, one who was granted the opportunity
to escape poverty, insecurity and war that colonialism created. Confusion stemming
from the realization that the warmth, love and energy of my family’s native land could never
be replaced, no matter where we went. And disenchantment from realizing the place we grew
up upheld, and continues to uphold, racism and white supremacy directed against us. These
realizations raised several questions.
How are we supposed to come together with our homeland? How can we embrace our roots
and at the same time live in a system that is poisoning them? How can we love if we are a
product of hate? Are we doomed to reproduce the same colonial patterns or do we have the
ingredients within ourselves to create a change... a GENETIC BOMB
back to gallery
entry description
Genetic Bomb is an interrogation of blackness, diaspora and identity that I have beenconceptually developing for many years. This interrogation has evolved into a photography
series that I have been working on since the beginning of 2022 and that I will shoot in
November and December 2022 in the Congo (DRC). My own life and experiences have
inspired me to take this project from concept to artistic creation.
I was born in Kinshasa, DRC and moved with my parents to Belgium when I was two years
old. Like many people who have experienced similar emigrations, I carry generational guilt,
confusion and disenchantment. Guilt of being a chosen one, one who was granted the opportunity
to escape poverty, insecurity and war that colonialism created. Confusion stemming
from the realization that the warmth, love and energy of my family’s native land could never
be replaced, no matter where we went. And disenchantment from realizing the place we grew
up upheld, and continues to uphold, racism and white supremacy directed against us. These
realizations raised several questions.
How are we supposed to come together with our homeland? How can we embrace our roots
and at the same time live in a system that is poisoning them? How can we love if we are a
product of hate? Are we doomed to reproduce the same colonial patterns or do we have the
ingredients within ourselves to create a change... a GENETIC BOMB
back to gallery
