24/09/2026
A recent conversation between David Krut and Kinshasa-based Gallery Malabo at this year’s FNB Art Joburg, has yielded a fruitful and creative collaboration between the David Krut Workshop and Congolese artists Doudou Mbemba and Sisqo Ndombe.
The artists - new to printmaking - have been ably mentored by DKW printmaker Sbongiseni Khulu over the past few days in creating new printed works showcased in this post.
Created as monotypes, a printmaking technique which allows the making of unique single impression of a painting made on a planar surface and then transferred in reverse by passing under the roller of a heavy etching press, the works were printed on archival fine art paper.
The collaboration was unusual and eye-opening as both Doudou and Sisqo are used to the traditional technique of working directly on canvas and the English language barrier meant a collaboration through visual observation and direct physicality. However, the shared passion of making provided fertile ground for the making of some very accomplished work.
Doudou Mbemba’s practice engages with social disorder, conflict and the tensions created by individualism. His work uses vibrant colour and recurring imagery of traffic jams as a way of reflecting on a society in which collective interests can be displaced by individual concerns.
Sisqo Ndombe’s expressive portraits are distinguished by the intensity of their gazes and by his distinctive technique of painting directly with his fingers, creating networks of cracks across the surfaces of faces. His work explores human, social and political conditions, balancing fragility and strength, with wounds becoming spaces through which memory, resistance and hope can be projected.
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