Serge Diakota
Serge Diakota, born in 1988 in the Democratic Republic of Congo, is a multidisciplinary artist who lives and works in Kinshasa. He studied sculpture at the Academy of Fine Arts in Kinshasa and developed a practice spanning painting, collage, photography and the transformation of everyday objects. His work explores how identity is shaped by cultural encounters, social inequalities and political structures. His work is presented by OpenArtExchange in the Netherlands. Artist biography
Diakota’s international career includes participation in the Congo Biennale in 2019 and the exhibition Megalopolis at the GRASSI Museum of Ethnography in Leipzig in 2018. His works are held in the museum’s collection and the Gervanne and Matthias Leridon Collection. He has also undertaken residencies at Art Omi in New York State and the Montresso Foundation in Morocco. Exhibitions and collections
In Revelations, Diakota brings together symbols associated with individuals, communities and nations to examine the relationship between cultural identity and globalisation. The project seeks to make visible the beliefs, histories and structures that influence everyday life, drawing connections between personal experience and wider cultural, political and social questions. Its title carries a spiritual dimension, reflecting the artist’s interest in revelation as a way of uncovering hidden meanings and deepening our understanding of the world.
Through the overlapping of cultural references, Diakota proposes a universal identity in which different traditions can coexist without discrimination or claims of superiority. His work invites viewers to consider how a sense of shared humanity might emerge through exchange, while allowing cultural differences to retain their meaning. Revelations becomes an invitation to reconsider the boundaries that separate people and to imagine more equitable ways of living together.
Provenance
Acquired directly from the artist