On April 7, the Académie des Beaux-Arts de Kinshasa, partner of the Leridon Grants, hosted the final presentation of the projects developed by this year’s laureates. This key moment marked the culmination of several months of research, production, and artistic development.
On this occasion, Manuella Alonge, recipient of the Leridon Residency Grant, and Destin Ushindi, recipient of the Creation Grant, presented their works to an audience composed of art professionals, institutional representatives, and public figures, including Patrick Muyaya, Yolande Elebe Ma Ndembo, Justine Martin, and Chantal Tombu.
This presentation reflects the core ambition of the Leridon Grants: to support emerging Congolese artists by providing them with the resources, time, and visibility necessary to develop their practices.
Residencies at the heart of artistic research
As part of her residency, Manuella Alonge was hosted in Douala at Hive Studio, led by artist Jean-David Nkot. This experience provided a dedicated environment for research and experimentation, allowing her to deepen her exploration of identity, memory, and transmission.
Meanwhile, Destin Ushindi received production support to develop an ambitious project at the intersection of image-making, painting, and critical inquiry.
The laureates’ creative projects
Makanisi — Manuella Alonge
With her project Makanisi, Manuella Alonge develops an introspective body of work that explores how identity is shaped through inherited narratives.
The project questions the stories that define us, often written and transmitted by others, and the ways in which they influence how we perceive ourselves. These narratives frequently frame the past through lenses of trauma and inherited pain.
At the core of the work lies the notion of dispossession: not only the loss of material goods, but also the loss of control over one’s own story. Through this series, the artist seeks to challenge these imposed frameworks and to reclaim a more autonomous, conscious, and self-defined identity.
Matthias Leridon and Manuella Alonge in front of the diptych created during his residency. ©Dareck Tubazaya Bubakuiza ©Arsène Mpiana
Niko — Destin Ushindi
With his project Niko, Destin Ushindi examines the production of images in a context of conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. The project is based on a deliberately unstable process: photographs taken in the Kivu region by local operators, following precise remote instructions.
From these images, the artist creates a series of paintings that do not aim to faithfully represent reality, but rather to reveal the conditions under which images are produced, altered, and mediated. The backgrounds, rendered in black and white, evoke a fragile and shifting memory.
Human figures, drawn in green ink and often inverted, appear as uncertain presences, hovering between visibility and disappearance. In contrast, certain elements, particularly goods highlighted in vivid red, resist this fading, standing out as tangible traces of activity and circulation.
Rather than documenting war, Niko questions the very possibility of representing it from a distance, raising critical issues around authorship, responsibility, and the limits of visual representation.
Matthias Leridon and Destin Ushindi in front of one of the works from his Niko series. ©Dareck Tubazaya Bubakuiza ©Arsène Mpiana
Beyond the individual projects, this presentation highlights the importance of collaboration between artists, institutions, and partners. It underscores the essential role played by structures such as the Académie des Beaux-Arts de Kinshasa in supporting emerging talent.
The Leridon Collection is proud to contribute to this dynamic and reaffirms its commitment to contemporary African creation by supporting initiatives that foster research, production, and the circulation of artworks.
Future editions of the Leridon Grants will continue to build on this momentum, supporting artists engaged in thoughtful, ambitious practices rooted in contemporary realities and open to the world.
©Dareck Tubazaya Bubakuiza ©Arsène Mpiana