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Tshibumba Kanda Matulu, “Le 30 juin 1960, Zaïre indépendant,” c. 1970–73, acrylic on flour sack. Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond © Estate of Tshibumba Kanda Matulu.
This work depicts the speech made by the first Congolese Prime Minister, Patrice Lumumba, during Independence Day. In response to the Belgian king, who warned to not “compromise the future with hasty reforms,” Lumumba reprimanded the king, plainly stating the violence inflicted on the Congolese people under Belgian colonial rule.