Cercle d’Art des Travailleurs de Plantation Congolaise

This exhibition features chocolate sculptures made by plantation workers. It addresses themes of economic inequality, regeneration, community survival and corporate art funding.

The Cercle d’Art des Travailleurs de Plantation Congolaise is a group based in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in Africa. It brings together plantation workers who engage in art making at settlements of the Institute for Human Activities in the country’s rainforest. This organisation was established by the Dutch artist Renzo Martens for the purpose of effecting social change.

This exhibition features sculptural portraits or representations of art-market figures such as the collector. Each one is moulded from clay and then reproduced in Belgian chocolate through multiple technologies, including 3D scanning and printing. Profits generated from the sale of these works are directed back to the artists, improving their living conditions and helping redressing global economic inequalities.