Renzo Martens
Renzo Martens (1973) studied political science and art. He gained international recognition with the films Episode I, and Episode III: Enjoy Poverty, which was televised in more than 23 countries. In 2012, Martens etablished Human Activities and its Gentrification Program in DR Congo. Together with the plantation workers of Cercle d'Art des Travailleurs de Plantation Congolaise (CATPC), he uses artistic critique to redress economic inequality — not symbolically, but in material terms. Consequently, they opened an OMA-designed White Cube on a former Unilever plantation in 2017. The work of the CATPC has been shown in a solo exhibition in ScultptureCenter New York, Mori Art in Tokyo, KW Berlin and in the 21st Biennale of Sydney.
White Cube, Martens’ new feature-length documentary film, shows how Congolese plantation workers set a new precedent: they successfully co-opt the concept of the ‘white cube’ to buy back their land from international corporations. The film premiere in Lusanga, Democratic Republic of Congo, where it was screened onto the white walls of the museum, and at the IDFA film festival in Amsterdam, The Netherlands this November, before touring globally.