Talking to CATPC – Introducing a reparative post-plantation economy 

Last summer ans autumn, CATPC was representing the Netherlands at the sixtieth edition of the Venice Biennale. A second exhibition ran parallel at the White Cube art space in Lusanga, where a cherished ancestral power-figure will be displayed, on loan from the Virginia Museum of Fine Art (VMFA). The work presented in Venice are currently on view at the Van Abbemuseum, where tey are presented together with works form the collection of the museum, showing their relation to centuries of Dutch colonial politics and the exploitation of plantage workers.In their six-part documentary Plantations and Museums (2021), members of CATPC narrate part of the difficult journey towards the return of Balot to its place of origin. Balot is a sculpture made in 1931 by the Pende people in an attempt to control the spirit of Belgian colonial officer Maximilien Balot, who was decapitated during the Pende uprising against Belgian colonial rule in the Kwilu region. The uprising was sparked by the rape of a Pende woman and resulted in hundreds of Pende being killed. After a long fight to bring this sculpture home, in February 2024 the VMFA approved the temporary restitution of Balot back to Lusanga, where it will be on display for the duration of the Venice Biennale. Through a live-feed from the White Cube gallery in Lusanga, the sculpture will also be present in the Giardini. I speak to visual artist and CATPC member Ced’art Tamasala about the collective’s practices of repair and reparation, and their (at the moment of this conversation) upcoming exhibitions at the Dutch Pavilion and the White Cube.