Serge Diakota Mabilama

Serge Diakota Mabilama, also known as Serge Diama, is a visual artist who calls Kinshasa his home, where he both lives and passionately works. His artistic journey began with a solid foundation, as he graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Kinshasa. However, his thirst for knowledge and artistic exploration led him to further develop his skills and creativity through various workshops and residencies, collaborating with renowned photographers and KinArt Studio in Kinshasa. He has also sought inspiration and growth from prestigious international residencies, including AKDT (Libramont/Belgium), Art Omi (NY Gent/US), and the Montresso Foundation (Marrakech/Morocco).

Serge Diama is an artist known for his boundless experimentation, fearlessly venturing into a diverse array of disciplines and techniques. His artistic toolkit includes installations, performances, painting, collage, drawing, engravings with razorblades, photography, and prints. His work is characterized by an unwavering curiosity, constantly questioning, searching, and probing the world around him. Diama possesses a unique ability to seamlessly integrate these varied techniques into meticulous compositions, producing original and outspoken artworks adorned with vibrant Congolese flamboyance.

Drawing inspiration from everyday life, as well as mundane objects such as plates, capsules, tables, beads, and more traditional surfaces, Diama engages in a continuous process of reimagining reality. He crafts this surrealistic reality using photographs, engravings, collage, drawing, and painting, forging images that compel viewers to reconsider the reality they perceive or should perceive. His art challenges the construction of our world, prompting fresh perspectives and new ways of making meaning.

In his most recent works, particularly within the “Unusual” and “Questions” series, Serge Diakota Mabilama transports us to a miniature world populated by surrealist figures, rich with symbolism, and blending elements from the past and present. Through meticulous applications of oil, collage, and pen on A4 and A3 coated paper, he explores themes of mixed identities and questions contemporary African societies. These works beckon us to contemplate our path forward, asking, “Quo vadis?”

Serge Diakota Mabilama’s art has transcended borders, as he has participated in group and solo exhibitions around the world. His work has been showcased in DR Congo, South Africa, Tanzania, Morocco, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, and the United States. Through his bold experimentation and thought-provoking compositions, he invites viewers to join him on a journey of reimagining reality and exploring the intricate layers of contemporary African identity.

“With my works I create images of universal identities, breaking down the psychological borders and notion of hierarchy between communities. We need to evolve to more equitable societies and question what realities we create today, so we become better and happier people tomorrow“

Serge Diama (1988, also known as Serge Diakota Mabilama) has proved himself an experimentalist pur sang, venturing into various different disciplines and techniques, from installations and performances, painting, collage, drawing, engravings with razorblades to photography and prints. Questioning, searching and probing into the world around him, he seamlessly combines these different techniques into exact compositions. Original and outspoken, sometimes political views with strong images, lines and forms, always with this Congolese streak of colorful flamboyance.