MOONSHINE PRESENTS: THE ZAÏRE SPACE PROGRAM

MOONSHINE, THE ZAÏRE SPACE PROGRAM

A world without borders, that’s ultimately what it’s all about. What if we were all part of the same tribe? Remember? Our very own tribe. This sense of global community and respect for the craft are at the root of a movement that can move mountains. Earlier this summer, Moonshine released the first part of an upcoming short film/documentary titled Zaïre Space Program. In the 3’17-minute video, the viewer follows FARATA, a Kinshasa-based artist collective harnessing the power of performance art to shed light on climate change while reviving the ancestry language of traditional costumes in DRC. Through costumes created out of entirely recycled items such as plastic bottles and discarded objects, they invite the public to rethink their relationship with waste. 

Within a matter of minutes, the viewer is fully immersed in the environment, the atmosphere, the characters—diving deeper in the work. “This is Africa as thought through the lens of Africans. It’s a cultural awakening”, explains Moonshine’s co-founder Hervé Kalongo. “Africa is in a race with itself. We find beauty in the things we do ourselves, something that has been taken away from us for a long time.” 

Directed by Nizar Saleh Mohamed, Pierre Kwenders and Hervé Kalongo, the hybrid short film/documentary aims to explore the shaping of an African Utopia, and the symbiotic relationship between technology and culture on the continent. The title Zaïre Space Program is a direct reference to the World’s very first private space program located in Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo) under the then president Mobutu Sese Seko in 1975.  

“Creativity is a force for change in society. That’s the vision in Zaïre Space Program”, highlights Kalongo. “It’s time for us to stop looking at [ideas] that come from Africa from a negative perspective. We have so many things to value.” 

There it is: the vision is the message, the message is art.