Léonard Pongo
Dialogue with the Source
FOMU (the museum for photography)
Antwerp (BE)
18 September 2026 - 17 January 2027
What do you hear when you listen to the earth?
This question has guided Belgian-Congolese artist Léonard Pongo (b. 1988) throughout nearly a decade of travel across the Democratic Republic of Congo. Developed specifically for FOMU, Dialogue with the Source takes the form of a spatial installation bringing together photography, video and textiles.
Rooted in Congolese traditions, symbolism and philosophy, Pongo’s work seeks not simply to represent a territory, but to make its experience tangible. Using modified full-spectrum cameras, he records wavelengths that remain invisible to the human eye, producing images that are at once vivid, uncanny and immersive. The works reveal the richness of Congo’s natural environment while underscoring the partial and subjective nature of perception.
Although people are absent from the photographs, the relationship between humans and the land remains central. Throughout his journeys, Pongo has collaborated with researchers and local communities whose stories, knowledge and ways of understanding the landscape have informed the project. A recurring motif within the exhibition is the banana tree, a symbol of life, fertility and cyclical renewal.
Dialogue with the Source is the result of Pongo’s artistic research within Thinking Tools at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp. The installation was designed in collaboration with Johnny Leya (Traumnovelle) and produced by FOMU with the support of Auguste Orts, Kristof De Clercq Gallery, Parc National de l’Upemba (ICCN–FPF), Plena Productions and the Flemish Community.
Alongside the exhibition at FOMU, Pongo’s work is also presented at the 2026 Venice Biennale. Previous presentations include Tate Modern, London, and the Biennale de Dakar. In 2019, he participated in .tiff, FOMU’s platform for emerging artistic talent, and his work is represented in the museum’s collection.
