Sinzo Aanza
Sinzo Aanza is a poet, writer, and visual artist whose work is profoundly shaped by the political landscape of his native Democratic Republic of Congo. His literary and visual art engages with themes such as the exploitation of natural resources, national identity, and the shifting image of the Congo, from the colonial era to the present.
In his latest installation, Aanza examines the complex role statistics play in representing real-life events. Drawing from the protracted conflict in Eastern Congo, he questions whether numbers alone can adequately express the magnitude of destruction and death. As the number of victims rises, one might expect an increase in compassion, yet the opposite often occurs.
To highlight the cynicism and moral indifference often associated with large scale political tragedies, Aanza references the well-known phrase attributed to Stalin, “If one man dies of hunger, it is a tragedy. If millions die, it’s just a statistic,” which was used during the great famine in Ukraine. Aanza critiques this mindset, simultaneously acknowledging that when statistics are reduced to mere numbers, they lose their narrative power and fail to convey the human stories behind them.
Through wooden sculptures and a textile piece, he confronts the abstraction and aridity of statistics for the imagination by giving form to the numbers, turning them into “analog statistics,” of sorts, where narrative complexity is restored through sensory experience. The textile piece, created by various artisans, is composed of Kuba cloth made from palm fibers and embroidered with raffia threads. It features astrological symbols mapping the sky on October 29, 1665—the date of the Battle of Mbwila, a pivotal event in Congo’s history, when Portuguese forces defeated the Kingdom of Kongo. The sculptures, meanwhile, depict the goddess Kalisya, a symbol of renewal in Congolese mythology. Though deeply rooted in the history of Congo, Aanza’s work also resonates with contemporary global conflicts, particularly the ongoing war in Ukraine.
Sinzo Aanza is a poet, writer, and visual artist whose work is profoundly shaped by the political landscape of his native Democratic Republic of Congo. His literary and visual art engages with themes such as the exploitation of natural resources, national identity, and the shifting image of the Congo, from the colonial era to the present.
In his latest installation, Aanza examines the complex role statistics play in representing real-life events. Drawing from the protracted conflict in Eastern Congo, he questions whether numbers alone can adequately express the magnitude of destruction and death. As the number of victims rises, one might expect an increase in compassion, yet the opposite often occurs.
To highlight the cynicism and moral indifference often associated with large scale political tragedies, Aanza references the well-known phrase attributed to Stalin, “If one man dies of hunger, it is a tragedy. If millions die, it’s just a statistic,” which was used during the great famine in Ukraine. Aanza critiques this mindset, simultaneously acknowledging that when statistics are reduced to mere numbers, they lose their narrative power and fail to convey the human stories behind them.
Through wooden sculptures and a textile piece, he confronts the abstraction and aridity of statistics for the imagination by giving form to the numbers, turning them into “analog statistics,” of sorts, where narrative complexity is restored through sensory experience. The textile piece, created by various artisans, is composed of Kuba cloth made from palm fibers and embroidered with raffia threads. It features astrological symbols mapping the sky on October 29, 1665—the date of the Battle of Mbwila, a pivotal event in Congo’s history, when Portuguese forces defeated the Kingdom of Kongo. The sculptures, meanwhile, depict the goddess Kalisya, a symbol of renewal in Congolese mythology. Though deeply rooted in the history of Congo, Aanza’s work also resonates with contemporary global conflicts, particularly the ongoing war in Ukraine.
