The ninth Lubumbashi Biennale runs from 15 October to 15 November 2026 under a double title, 'manger la terre / kukuria bulongo' — eating the earth. In a city whose history is bound to copper and cobalt extraction, the title reads as both a question and a provocation.
The edition is led by Sorana Munsya, an independent curator based in Brussels, working alongside Jermay Michael Gabriel, an artist, curator and professor at Addis Ababa University. Their starting point is the Congolese philosopher V. Y. Mudimbe, who died in April 2025 and left his personal library to the University of Lubumbashi. Through a partnership with the Picha art centre, the curators have been able to work with that collection.
Munsya frames the edition around one question: 'How do you feed on an earth that has already been eaten?' Rather than dwelling only on what was taken, she points to what still circulates, resists and nourishes.
The biennale is organised by Picha, the independent art centre co-founded in 2008 by artist Sammy Baloji, which describes the event as the only independently run contemporary art biennale in sub-Saharan Africa. In May, a public appeal raised around 8,000 euros to secure the centre and this edition. Past editions have hosted artists such as Kader Attia, Zineb Sedira, Kiluanji Kia Henda, Ibrahim Mahama and Emeka Ogboh.
This year the programme spreads across 16 venues, from the Picha art centre and the National Museum of Lubumbashi to the Institute of Fine Arts, the university campus and the botanical reserve.
