Moridja Kitenge Banza

The artworks of Banza are represented in various collections including the National Gallery of Canada, the Montréal Museum of Fine Arts, the Art Gallery of Ontario, as well as several corporate  art collections including the TD Bank Corporate Art Collection and the Bank of Montréal Collection.^[7][5]

The Christ Pantocrator work forms a series of paintings that superimpose representations of African masks over images of Byzantine Christian iconography of Christ Pantocrator.  Through this work, Kitenge Banza combines traditional religious aspects of Congolese beliefs with Christianity.^[8] The paintings in the series divert the sacred symbols to reveal the colonial process that led to the theft of African ritual objects by Western museums, as well as the exploitation of these objects in the context of modern art.^[6]

The photographs in the series Authentique feature the artist staging himself in his Montréal backyard, with works in the Christ Pantocrator series decorated with colored wax fabric.

Critical interpretation of these compositions have viewed this series as a commentary on the complex cultural identities in which immigrant populations must navigate, as well as a critical look at contemporary and historical representations of African identity.^[6]

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