First comprehensive publication on the Biennale of Lubumbashi, tracing the city’s and the art scene’s growth through collective practice. Launched by the artist collective Picha in 2008, the Lubumbashi Biennale has evolved alongside the city that hosts it—a place that still bears the traces of mining, empire, and the global flow of resources. This book maps the Biennale’s evolution and the collective gestures that inform it. Through essays, images and conversations, it captures an event that renews itself with every edition, balancing the fragility and invention that emerge from collective practice and everyday resilience. The book’s contributions reflect on what it means to create within a landscape marked by extraction and endurance, and reveals an art world sustained by collaboration and the will to imagine alternatives. Featuring a wealth of visual material, A City in Practice combines historical, visual, and first-hand perspectives from artists and curators, connecting art, urban studies, and social history in an accessible, engaging way. Launched by the artist collective Picha in 2008, the Lubumbashi Biennale has evolved alongside the city that hosts it—a place that still bears the traces of mining, empire, and the global flow of resources. This book maps the Biennale’s evolution and the collective gestures that inform it. Through essays, images and conversations, it captures an event that renews itself with every edition, balancing the fragility and invention that emerge from collective practice and everyday resilience. The book’s contributions reflect on what it means to create within a landscape marked by extraction and endurance, and reveals an art world sustained by collaboration and the will to imagine alternatives. Featuring a wealth of visual material, A City in Practice combines historical, visual, and first-hand perspectives from artists and curators, connecting art, urban studies, and social history in an accessible, engaging way. Introduction: The Collective as Method and Instituent Practice Introduction : le collectif comme méthode et pratique instituante Aude Tournaye & Filip De Boeck PART I GENEALOGIES OF PRACTICE: MEMORY, MATERIALITY, AND EMERGENCE GÉNÉALOGIES DES PRATIQUES : MÉMOIRE, MATÉRIALITÉ ET ÉMERGENCE A Season in the Congo Une saison au Congo Simon Njami Representing the World from Katanga: “Reclaiming” Cultural Memory Représenter le monde à partir du Katanga : reprendre la mémoire culturelle Bogumil Jewsiewicki Future Genealogies: Tales from the Equatorial Line Généalogies futures : récits depuis l’Équateur Sandrine Colard Alchemising Toxicity: The Lubumbashi Biennale’s Transformative Work in the Museum and Beyond Alchimiser la toxicité : le travail transformateur de la Biennale de Lubumbashi au musée et au-delà Lotte Arndt PART II PLOTFORMS AND PLATFORMS: CIRCULATION, COLLABORATION, AND COLLECTIVE WORK PLOTFORMS ET PLATEFORMES : CIRCULATION, COLLABORATION ET TRAVAIL COLLECTIF Between Autonomy and Alliance: How the Lubumbashi Biennale Came to Be Entre autonomie et alliance : la genèse de la Biennale de Lubumbashi Daniella Géo & Sammy Baloji (2018) Platform/Plotform: On Doing Things with Art Platform/Plotform : faire des choses avec l’art Kim Gurney Curating Dazzlement Orchestrer l’éblouissement Annick M’Kele & Toma Muteba Luntumbue (2015) PART III TRANSFORMATIONS: URBAN ECOLOGIES, TOXICITY, AND POSTCOLONIAL AFTERLIVES TRANSFORMATIONS : ÉCOLOGIES URBAINES, TOXICITÉ ET DEVENIRS POSTCOLONIAUX Toxicity: Presenting the Lubumbashi Biennale 2022 Toxicité : Présentation de la Biennale de Lubumbashi 2022 Filip De Boeck & collectif Picha Rethinking the Colonial Library: The Lubumbashi Biennale as an Antidote Against Toxicity Repenser la bibliothèque coloniale : la Biennale de Lubumbashi comme antidote à la toxicité Filip De Boeck & Jean-Sylvain Tshilumba Mukendi Dazzlements Éblouissements Joseph Tonda On the Violence of the Imaginary in Central Africa Penser la violence de l’imaginaire en Afrique centrale Toma Muteba Luntumbue & Joseph Tonda (2019) Such Gentle Ways of Destroying De si douces manières de détruire Marynet Jeannerod Notes Bibliography Illustrations Authors Index