Ritual Figures in Congo

A sophisticated publication dedicated to one of the most astonishing collections of African art.

This book presents a variety of ritual figures from the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Figurative sculpture is considered the best expression of African ritual arts and was one of the most important sources of inspiration for early twentieth-century artists, leaving a deep impact in the world history of art.

Produced in different materials, from wood to stone and ivory, figurative sculpture has been produced in the Congo region for hundreds, if not thousands of years. The first official collection of these artworks is dated 1873.

This publication is enriched by new, beautiful pictures of the collection with a contemporary and sophisticated touch.

The texts are written by Marc Leo Felix, an international expert in African art as well as an organizer and curator of international exhibitions on African arts.

Marc Leo Felix is currently the director of the Congo Basin Art History Research Center in Brussels. He studied Art and Art History at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Brussels and conducted extensive field research in Africa and Southeast Asia between 1966 and 1999. He has organized over thirty exhibitions worldwide and written more than twenty books and a number of articles on ritual art from Congo. He was the editor of the book White Gold, Black Hands for which he received the prestigious Prix International du Livre d'Art Tribal award in 2015. Marc has lectured worldwide at universities, museums, and symposia, and co-organized, in 2001, the first-ever exhibition of ritual art from the "Kongo Kingdom" in China, held at the National Museum of China in Beijing. Together with Mr. Henry Lu, he has organized more than twenty-five exhibitions about African art in the Greater China region.

Henry C.C. Lu is based in Hong Kong. He is a merchant, collector, curator, and organizer of cultural events.

Lewis Ho is a photographer based in Hong Kong, member of the HKIPP (Hong Kong Institute of Professional Photographers).

Paul Louis is a Brussels-based photographer, renowned for his captivating captures of "Ritual Figures in Congo" and "Masks in Congo."