Kriss Munsya
Born in DRC in the 80’s and raised in Brussels, he was confronted with his “differences” early on. The discrimination and violence he experienced in child-hood left a mark - one that grew to obfuscate his sense of self-worth. The internalization of these experiences disoriented him in search of self-preservation. It took him years to acknowledge how this distanced him from his loved ones, community, and Self [sic]. He took refuge in the distance. Safety was his priority.In his adulthood, his memories are calling on him to clarify his worth and reorient his efforts toward justice. He wants to get back to those he’d distanced himself from.
The Eraser Series
The Eraser juxtaposes experiences of the past with desires of the future. It is a story of change and transformation that centers a Black man revisiting experiences that have been normalized in critical reflection of internalized supremacy. Things that at the time he thought were normal now have new meaning and he wants to share the lessons within.
With The Eraser, he aims to translate his experiences into invitations to reflect on the impacts of supremacy.This project reflects critically on the past to inform transformational offerings for the future. As the protagonist revisits memories to re-imagine his past, he tries to erase the dominance of whiteness by transposing Blackness. However, memory is not easy to manipulate! Digging into the past always brings up unexpected things. With that, it imagines creative reclamations of space.
Highway Reflection
When he was 6 years old, his family went on a road trip to Germany. They stopped at a really low budget motel on the highway. He remembers he couldn’t sleep that night because of the sound of cars. The next day, his father and him played soccer in the parking lot while his sister and mother hung out on the grass.
At one point, the ball got away and rolled toward the fence separating them from the highway. On the other side of the highway, he could see a hotel. But that one was a fancy one. He could see rich white families in the pool. He remembers the patio was full of flowers. He was really jealous, and maybe a bit mad at his parents for choosing there they were staying.
He wanted to be on the other side of the highway.
It took him years to understand that he was exactly where he was supposed to be.
Now that he’s older, he’s trying to reclaim the past he never had. He’s trying to change his memories to change his future. But digging the past always brings up unexpected things.
The Eraser Series
The Eraser juxtaposes experiences of the past with desires of the future. It is a story of change and transformation that centers a Black man revisiting experiences that have been normalized in critical reflection of internalized supremacy. Things that at the time he thought were normal now have new meaning and he wants to share the lessons within.
With The Eraser, he aims to translate his experiences into invitations to reflect on the impacts of supremacy.This project reflects critically on the past to inform transformational offerings for the future. As the protagonist revisits memories to re-imagine his past, he tries to erase the dominance of whiteness by transposing Blackness. However, memory is not easy to manipulate! Digging into the past always brings up unexpected things. With that, it imagines creative reclamations of space.
Highway Reflection
When he was 6 years old, his family went on a road trip to Germany. They stopped at a really low budget motel on the highway. He remembers he couldn’t sleep that night because of the sound of cars. The next day, his father and him played soccer in the parking lot while his sister and mother hung out on the grass.
At one point, the ball got away and rolled toward the fence separating them from the highway. On the other side of the highway, he could see a hotel. But that one was a fancy one. He could see rich white families in the pool. He remembers the patio was full of flowers. He was really jealous, and maybe a bit mad at his parents for choosing there they were staying.
He wanted to be on the other side of the highway.
It took him years to understand that he was exactly where he was supposed to be.
Now that he’s older, he’s trying to reclaim the past he never had. He’s trying to change his memories to change his future. But digging the past always brings up unexpected things.
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Kriss Munsya's new work is illustrating the Fiction column "Children of God" by J.M. Holmes for The New Yorker print edition! |
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Kriss Munsya | Monolithic Introspection
BURRARD ARTS FOUNDATION
April 22 - June 19, 2021
Kriss Munsya is a Congolese-born, Belgian-raised conceptual photographer living and working on the traditional, ancestral and unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and səlil̓ilw̓ətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. In the past year, he has received international acclaim for his collection THE ERASER, a self-exploration of internalized supremacy and hope.
Munsya’s new series, Monolithic Introspection, applies his use of vivid imagery to draw the viewer into critical reflections of humanity to engage audiences with questions about peoples, lands, resources and power. Created in collaboration with local environmental justice activists, the project weaves together a cautionary tale while centering the strength of those at furthest proximity to power.
The conceptual choices supporting Monolithic Introspection are framed by three pillars: Da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man, the Great Chain of Being, and Environmental Justice. The Vitruvian Man represents man as perfect and implies nature gifted human perfection.The Great Chain of Being depicts a hierarchical structure descending from godliness to man, animals, plants, and minerals. Over centuries, both have been leveraged to justify white Christian man’s supremacy and dominion over peoples, lands, and resources. Munsya includes Environmental Justice as a response to this legacy. It calls for the disruption and reconstruction of how peoples, lands, and resources are valued.
These three conceptual pillars have guided decision-making throughout the project, serving to identify collaborators, and to set priorities regarding composition. Early images in the series have been produced in collaboration with Black femmes active in local efforts toward racial and environmental justice, including with the Hogan’s Alley Society—a community organization that foregrounds the contributions of Black Vancouverites and which advocates for meaningful Black involvement in city-building.
By having Black models mimic the Vitruvian Man, Munsya interrupts the notion of calculated perfection with the presentation of systemic vulnerability. The orbs symbolize the tensions between nature-given versus human-made, and illustrate how supremacy tears us apart. Photographed on the Georgia Viaduct, the images are offerings that evoke curiosity about Vancouver’s Black History. They highlight the significance of the viaduct and its role in the displacement and erasure of Hogan’s Alley and Blackness in Vancouver.
Through its site-specific and heightened portraiture, Monolithic Introspection beckons interrogations of our environments, our personal relationships with one another, and how we distribute worth.
Text by Julia Santana Parrilla
Exhibition view "Monolithic Introspection" | Image credit: BAF
PAST EXHIBITION AT MRG
While we Wait: Records of Solitude
March - April 2021
works by Sarah Delaney, Annie Briard, Kriss Munsya and Jessica Bushey
We are pleased to announce the exhibition “While we Wait: Records of Solitude”. This group show brings together the works of four artists, Annie Briard, Sarah Delaney, Jessica Bushey and Kriss Munsya, living and working in Vancouver, BC. The pieces have been produced in the past year while under lockdown during the pandemic, while we are all waiting. Waiting for this pandemic to be over, waiting for borders to reopen, waiting for a vaccine, waiting to see what model or ways of living will manifest themselves after this is over, once this pandemic is over.
While we Wait: Records of Solitude
March - April 2021
works by Sarah Delaney, Annie Briard, Kriss Munsya and Jessica Bushey
We are pleased to announce the exhibition “While we Wait: Records of Solitude”. This group show brings together the works of four artists, Annie Briard, Sarah Delaney, Jessica Bushey and Kriss Munsya, living and working in Vancouver, BC. The pieces have been produced in the past year while under lockdown during the pandemic, while we are all waiting. Waiting for this pandemic to be over, waiting for borders to reopen, waiting for a vaccine, waiting to see what model or ways of living will manifest themselves after this is over, once this pandemic is over.
Exhibition view 'While we Wait: Records of Solitude"
"1854 British Journal of Photography Kriss Munsya reclaims memories of childhood trauma and racism"
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The photographer and filmmaker’s first personal body of work revisits experiences from his upbringing as a Black child in a predominantly white environmentIt is the summer of 1991. Five-year-old Kriss Munsya is road-tripping with his family in Germany. They stop at a motel, where he plays football in the car park with his father, while his mother and older sister hang out on a nearby patch of grass. As he runs to retrieve the ball, which has rolled towards the fence, Munsya catches a glance of another hotel on the other side of the highway. He sees a beautiful swimming pool, a wealthy white family lounging beside it, and a patio full of flowers. He wishes he was on the other side.
Kriss Munsya is describing one of his early memories, which informed the images of his latest series, The Eraser: “I picked key moments from my childhood that made me the Black person I am today,” Munsya explains. The artist was born in the Democratic Republic of the Congo but relocated to Belgium with his family when he was three years old. They were one of the only Black families in a predominantly white neighbourhood.
“I had all these memories, and I thought, ‘What would happen if I was able to erase them? What if I had a machine that could erase all this trauma?” Inspired by Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind – a 2004 film about a couple who use new technology to erase one another from their memories – Munsya imagined a world in which these traumatic experiences could be retracted.
Usually, Munsya’s chosen medium is film. This is the first time that he has used photography to reflect on his personal experiences. “I was fortunate enough to be able to take the time and think about my life,” says Munsya, who recently went through a course of therapy. “It can take a long time, and it is a privilege to be able to do that.” Many people assume that it was difficult to make personal work about trauma, he says, admiring how he can share work about it with such ease. “I didn’t rush through these traumatic experiences, I processed them really slowly. It was really therapeutic, because I did it in the right way for me,” he says. “Those scars are healed now, so I can talk about them.”
Adorned with flowers and ribbons, covered in mirrored glitter, or peaking out of draped fabrics, Munsya’s subjects are often faceless, so that the viewer can project themselves onto them. Like the flowers that run through the work, memories can have multiple meanings. “Nothing is just happy, or sad,” says Munsya. “When something is ‘Hollywood’ – as in, where there are good people and bad people – it’s not reflective of reality.” Showing these personal interpretations of his experiences of racism will provoke different reactions from different people. “That’s the closest I can get to my real life,” he says.
https://www.1854.photography/2021/03/kriss-munsya-the-eraser/
Kriss Munsya is describing one of his early memories, which informed the images of his latest series, The Eraser: “I picked key moments from my childhood that made me the Black person I am today,” Munsya explains. The artist was born in the Democratic Republic of the Congo but relocated to Belgium with his family when he was three years old. They were one of the only Black families in a predominantly white neighbourhood.
“I had all these memories, and I thought, ‘What would happen if I was able to erase them? What if I had a machine that could erase all this trauma?” Inspired by Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind – a 2004 film about a couple who use new technology to erase one another from their memories – Munsya imagined a world in which these traumatic experiences could be retracted.
Usually, Munsya’s chosen medium is film. This is the first time that he has used photography to reflect on his personal experiences. “I was fortunate enough to be able to take the time and think about my life,” says Munsya, who recently went through a course of therapy. “It can take a long time, and it is a privilege to be able to do that.” Many people assume that it was difficult to make personal work about trauma, he says, admiring how he can share work about it with such ease. “I didn’t rush through these traumatic experiences, I processed them really slowly. It was really therapeutic, because I did it in the right way for me,” he says. “Those scars are healed now, so I can talk about them.”
Adorned with flowers and ribbons, covered in mirrored glitter, or peaking out of draped fabrics, Munsya’s subjects are often faceless, so that the viewer can project themselves onto them. Like the flowers that run through the work, memories can have multiple meanings. “Nothing is just happy, or sad,” says Munsya. “When something is ‘Hollywood’ – as in, where there are good people and bad people – it’s not reflective of reality.” Showing these personal interpretations of his experiences of racism will provoke different reactions from different people. “That’s the closest I can get to my real life,” he says.
https://www.1854.photography/2021/03/kriss-munsya-the-eraser/
PRESS
“Kriss Munsya reclaims memories of childhood drama and racism”, by Marigold Warned, 1845 British Journal of Photography, March 23, 2021. https://www.1854.photography/2021/03/kriss-munsya-the-eraser/
“How Bold Colors and Floral Arrangements Can Symbolize Guilt, Pain and Resolution”, by Jon Feinstein, Humble Arts Foundation Hafny, Februray 18, 2021. https://hafny.org/blog/2021/2/how-bold-colors-and-floral-arrangements-can-symbolize-guilt-pain-and-resolution
“Black History Month: The Eraser by Kriss Munsya”, by Sarah Beck, Musee Vanguard of Photography Culture, February 2021. https://museemagazine.com/features/2021/2/2/black-history-month-the-eraser-by-kriss-munsya
“Calgary's Exposure Photography Festival celebrates emerging Canadian talent in its 17th edition”, by Daniel Milroy-Maher, British Journal of Phorography, January 2021. https://www.1854.photography/2021/02/exposure-photography-festival-2021/
“L’artiste vancouvérois Kriss Munsya combat le racisme avec la beauté”, by Camille Vernet, ICI Radio Canada, January 23, 2021. https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/1765220/art-blm-racisme-photographie-engage-activisme-vancouver
“The Eraser: Confronting childhood trauma through art and photography, by Taylor Alarcon, Creative Boom, January 13, 2021. https://www.creativeboom.com/inspiration/the-eraser-confronting-childhood-trauma-through-art-and-photography/
“The Eraser: la fotografia di Kirss Munsya come elaborazione del ricordo”, by Manuela Anna Maria Accinno, Rolling Stone Italy, December 2020. https://www.rollingstone.it/black-camera/racconti-fotografici/the-eraser-la-fotografia-di-kriss-munsya-come-elaborazione-del-ricordo/545068/
“Kriss Munsya: The Eraser”, by Michael Turner, Preview Magazine, October 2020. https://preview-art.com/preview/kriss-munsya-the-eraser/
“Sorana Munsya: Our Q&A with Sorana Munsya, psychologist and curator specialized in contemporary art created by African black artists”, by Chiara Bardelli Nonino, Vogue Italy, Ocotber 16, 2020. https://www.vogue.it/fotografia/article/sorana-munsya
“A Conversation with Kriss Munsya: Exploring race, memory and acceptance”, by Graeme Berglund, Lojel Journal, October 16, 2020. https://www.lojel.com/journal/a-conversation-with-kriss-munsya/
“'The Eraser' by Kriss Munsya” Perjus, July 16, 2020. https://www.perjus.com/features/2020/7/27/the-eraser-by-kriss-munsya
“Meet June Artist of the Month: Kriss Munsy”, SAD Magazine, June 2020. https://www.sadmag.ca/blog/2020/6/10/meet-june-artist-of-the-month-kriss-munsya
“Kriss Munsya's activist art. Multidisciplinary artist Kriss Munsya explores race, gender and identity”, by Gioncarlo Valentine, Creative Cloud. https://creativecloud.adobe.com/discover/article/kriss-munsya-s-activist-art
Podcasts:
“Identitaet und Rassismus: 3D-Fotoarbeiten des Kunstaktivisten Kriss Munsya”, Natalie Klinger, ARD Audiothek, Januay 14, 2021. https://www.ardaudiothek.de/fazit-kultur-vom-tage/identitaet-und-rassismus-3d-fotoarbeiten-des-kunstaktivisten-kriss-munsya/85201438
“For the Record with Kirss Munsya : Activism through Art”, Marian Diment. https://mariadiment.com/portfolio/for-the-record-with-kriss-munsya-activism-through-art/
“Ep. 102: Art Around the World, with Kriss Munsya”, Running Wild with Christine Podcast. https://hubhopper.com/episode/ep-102-art-around-the-world-with-kriss-munsya-1593850304
“How Bold Colors and Floral Arrangements Can Symbolize Guilt, Pain and Resolution”, by Jon Feinstein, Humble Arts Foundation Hafny, Februray 18, 2021. https://hafny.org/blog/2021/2/how-bold-colors-and-floral-arrangements-can-symbolize-guilt-pain-and-resolution
“Black History Month: The Eraser by Kriss Munsya”, by Sarah Beck, Musee Vanguard of Photography Culture, February 2021. https://museemagazine.com/features/2021/2/2/black-history-month-the-eraser-by-kriss-munsya
“Calgary's Exposure Photography Festival celebrates emerging Canadian talent in its 17th edition”, by Daniel Milroy-Maher, British Journal of Phorography, January 2021. https://www.1854.photography/2021/02/exposure-photography-festival-2021/
“L’artiste vancouvérois Kriss Munsya combat le racisme avec la beauté”, by Camille Vernet, ICI Radio Canada, January 23, 2021. https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/1765220/art-blm-racisme-photographie-engage-activisme-vancouver
“The Eraser: Confronting childhood trauma through art and photography, by Taylor Alarcon, Creative Boom, January 13, 2021. https://www.creativeboom.com/inspiration/the-eraser-confronting-childhood-trauma-through-art-and-photography/
“The Eraser: la fotografia di Kirss Munsya come elaborazione del ricordo”, by Manuela Anna Maria Accinno, Rolling Stone Italy, December 2020. https://www.rollingstone.it/black-camera/racconti-fotografici/the-eraser-la-fotografia-di-kriss-munsya-come-elaborazione-del-ricordo/545068/
“Kriss Munsya: The Eraser”, by Michael Turner, Preview Magazine, October 2020. https://preview-art.com/preview/kriss-munsya-the-eraser/
“Sorana Munsya: Our Q&A with Sorana Munsya, psychologist and curator specialized in contemporary art created by African black artists”, by Chiara Bardelli Nonino, Vogue Italy, Ocotber 16, 2020. https://www.vogue.it/fotografia/article/sorana-munsya
“A Conversation with Kriss Munsya: Exploring race, memory and acceptance”, by Graeme Berglund, Lojel Journal, October 16, 2020. https://www.lojel.com/journal/a-conversation-with-kriss-munsya/
“'The Eraser' by Kriss Munsya” Perjus, July 16, 2020. https://www.perjus.com/features/2020/7/27/the-eraser-by-kriss-munsya
“Meet June Artist of the Month: Kriss Munsy”, SAD Magazine, June 2020. https://www.sadmag.ca/blog/2020/6/10/meet-june-artist-of-the-month-kriss-munsya
“Kriss Munsya's activist art. Multidisciplinary artist Kriss Munsya explores race, gender and identity”, by Gioncarlo Valentine, Creative Cloud. https://creativecloud.adobe.com/discover/article/kriss-munsya-s-activist-art
Podcasts:
“Identitaet und Rassismus: 3D-Fotoarbeiten des Kunstaktivisten Kriss Munsya”, Natalie Klinger, ARD Audiothek, Januay 14, 2021. https://www.ardaudiothek.de/fazit-kultur-vom-tage/identitaet-und-rassismus-3d-fotoarbeiten-des-kunstaktivisten-kriss-munsya/85201438
“For the Record with Kirss Munsya : Activism through Art”, Marian Diment. https://mariadiment.com/portfolio/for-the-record-with-kriss-munsya-activism-through-art/
“Ep. 102: Art Around the World, with Kriss Munsya”, Running Wild with Christine Podcast. https://hubhopper.com/episode/ep-102-art-around-the-world-with-kriss-munsya-1593850304