Kinshasa, 2011. Eight million inhabitants, thousands of shegués (street children), hundreds of wrestlers and their brass bands. Edingwe, Dragon, City Train, Mbokotomo : the “legends” of Congolese wrestling invent themselves on a daily basis in the outskirts of Kinshasa.
Body-building, and even black magic enthusiasts fight for glory in makeshift rings. They come from the streets and their charisma commands respect and admiration. But the heros of the ring are modest in victory : « Kobeta libanga papa mundele » [we manage, white man]. In the last hours of the day, when they have hung up their everyday “occupations”, they put on masks and wrestling kit ready to fight.
The motorised parade of wrestlers attracts crowds from the dusty streets of Massina, Ngili and Matete, towns round the Congolese capital. In back yards, on the tables of the street cafés, or even in the street, the spell casters warm up over primus stoves and cannabis. The ring is hastily set up, the judge climbs onto the ropes. “Let the match begin!” The fight starts and is usually more or less fixed. Rounds follow one another until the final spell is cast, until the adversary is floored, until the next fight.
Colin Delfosse (1981, Belgium). Graduated in journalism, he turned to documentary photography in 2007, and became one of the founding members of the Out of Focus collective. As a freelance photographer, Delfosse initiated his first reportages in Viet Nam, Mali and in China. His recent projects lead him to the Democratic Republic of Congo (“Wizards of the Ring”) and Iraqi Kurdistan (“The PKK Amazons”).
Winner of several awards, Delfosse recently won two PDN photo annual awards, and has been short-listed for the Sony World Photography Awards in 2012.
His last reportage looks more closely at the Soviet legacy in Kazakhstan. The project “Polygons: 20 years after” has been selected at the Lumix photo festival of Hanover and at the “night of the year’s” screening at Arles photo festival.
Colin Delfosse has published in Photo Raw, Eyemazing, The New York Times, Le Monde, L’Internazionale, The International Herald Tribune, Jeune Afrique, Polka, View, Time Magazine Light Box, Causette, VSD, Feuilleton, Square mag, La Libre Belgique, Le Soir.
His work is also published through Picturetank agency.
Congolese Wrestlers
October 19 – November 4, 2012
“Technopolis“ of the City of Athens
Pireos 100, Gazi
Athens, Greece
Hours: Monday-Friday 17:00-22:00, Saturday-Sunday 12:00-22:00
