The Geopolitics of Infrastructure — Contemporary Perspectives

Jean Katambayi Mukendi’s state of mind is algorithmic. Typically using recycled materials, and based on complex calculations, Mukendi builds an alternative infrastructure in which science, technology, mythology and imagination come together to solve society’s problems. From his formative training as an electrician and his aptitude for mathematics, he has developed an oeuvre whose uniqueness finds its origins in Congolese life, where improbable situations can arise from a combination of failing infrastructure, neocolonialism and the inexhaustible creativity of people.
With Trotation, Katambayi seeks to eliminate the socio-cultural imbalance between the Northern and Southern hemispheres. It shows how Earth rotates on its axis and around the sun. Those who are closer to the equator undergo a greater revolution than those who live near the poles. Katambayi invents a third type of movement to restore balance. Onderhandeling (meaning ‘negotiation’), whose Dutch-language title refers to the colonial past of what was the Belgian Congo, is a machine that depicts political negotiations as a lottery game. The balls symbolise the countries of the G20, supplemented for the occasion by the Democratic Republic of Congo
and Belgium. The Concentrator is based on the almost divine status of machines in the mining infrastructure in Mukendi’s hometown of Lubumbashi. These machines must always keep running, and in the event of problems with energy supply, they are therefore given priority over electricity for residential areas. The series of Afrolampe drawings refers to a contradiction: the DRC is an important supplier of raw materials for electricity and technology infrastructures all over the world, but fails to make them function properly at home.

Trotation, 1992–2011
Installation, 100 × 90 × 90 cm
Collection M HKA

Onderhandeling, 2016
Cardboard, tape, plexiglass, metal, electrical wiring and engine, 160 × 100 × 80 cm
Courtesy Jacques Verhaegen

The Concentrator, 2022
Plastic, wood, pingpong balls, 350 × 200 × 120 cm
Courtesy KU Leuven

Yllux, 2012
Cardboard, electric wires, batteries, 100 × 120 × 90 cm
Courtesy the artist and Wouters Gallery

Lester, 2011
Cardboard, electrical wiring, LED lamps, 30 × 50 × 30 cm
Courtesy Micki Meng Gallery, Ramiken and Wouters Gallery

AFROLAMPE SERIES, 2017 – ...

Afrolampe, 2017. Ink on Perspex, 91.5 × 64 cm
Collection M HKA, donation of the artist and Trampoline Gallery, Antwerp

Afrolampe Mujinga, 2022. Ink on paper, 91.5 × 64 cm
Afrolampe Moment d’inertie, 2022. Ink on paper, 91.5 × 64 cm
Afrolampe, 2022. Ink on paper, 91.5 × 64 cm
Afrolampe, 2017. Pen on paper, 100 × 70 cm
Afrolampe Couche Carbone 76543, 2022. Ink on paper, 91.5 × 64 cm
Afrolampe, 2022. Ink on paper, 91.5 × 64 cm
Courtesy Micki Meng Gallery, Ramiken and Wouters Gallery

Afrolampe Ndjekele (afroled), 2024. Ink on paper, 100 × 70 cm
Afrolampe Deal, 2024. Ink on paper, 100 × 70 cm
Afrolampe Escalation, 2024. Ink on paper, 100 × 70 cm
Afrolampe Issues, 2024. Ink on paper, 100 × 70 cm
Courtesy the artist, DREI Gallery and Wouters Gallery

Afrolampe Logiciel, 2022. Ink on paper, 100 × 70 cm
Afrolampe, 2017. Pen on paper, 100 × 70 cm
Untitled, 2025. Pen and coloured pencil on paper, 100 × 70 cm
Untitled, 2025. Pen and coloured pencil on paper, 100 × 70 cm
Untitled, 2025. Pen and coloured pencil on paper, 100 × 70 cm
Courtesy the artist and Wouters Gallery