Resting at the end of the day after filming and conducting interviews, Manono, DRC

Jean Katambayi and Gulda El Magambo, interview on local radio station in Manono, DRC

Jean Katambayi, Maarten Vanden Eynde and Gulda El Magambo undertook a collective research trip to the Manono mining area and collected raw materials and audio/visual documentation. They conducted a whole range of interviews with people ranging from artisanal miners, the director of the Ministry of Mines and Geology, the Luba chef, the head of Manono Abbey among others. This material will be collected in the ‘OTO-Banque Collectif’, a collective archive of images, texts and audiovisual materials, made available to all participating artists for the production of new works. 

Roche Dure, lake on top of large pegmatite containing lithium, Manono, DRC

Maarten Vanden Eynde also worked together at Picha with the Lubumbashi based painter Musasa on the creation of three new painted wall charts, inspired by old educational charts. By developing a universal visual language using various drawings, pictographs and symbols as a visual rebus, the charts summarize the origin, use and influence of Lithium and other pivotal elements like copper, gold and uranium.

On-Trade-Off is an ongoing artistic-research project that reflects on environmental and economic implications of the extraction and processing of Lithium, the main raw material needed for the global production of Green Energy.