Black History Month exhibit: Congolese Montreal artist paints to ‘say something about the world’
Posted February 12, 2026 4:10 pm.
Last Updated February 12, 2026 7:30 pm.
Set to hang on the wall of a downtown Montreal art gallery is a painting that means a lot to the artist.
The closeup of a woman’s face – streaked with shades of blue paint – was based on one of only two photos Julien Lubanda-Kandolo has of his late mother.
“I am talking about the Black mother,” said Lubanda-Kandolo. “I used the image from my momma. It’s one of the last images of my mom. She died. I used the image to honour and use it for the show because it’s Black History Month.”
Colours, texture, technique – every piece of art coming to the upcoming “Rituals and Avatars of Africa” exhibit at Montreal’s Éclats 521 gallery tells a story.
From Lubanda-Kandolo’s painting of his mother, to disfigured portraits, and mixed-medium works, the Montrealer says art gives him the possibility to “say something about the world.”
“I found a piece of skin on the magazine from beauty magazine from here. And I mixed with the painting and spray paint with collage, and I make kind of like this,” Lubanda-Kandolo tells CityNews, explaining the process for one piece in particular.
The full-time artist moved to Montreal with his family in 2009 from Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
“Montreal for me is like home now,” he said.
From San Francisco to New York and Italy, Kandolo – who even illustrates children’s books – has had his work displayed across the globe.
And now the UQAM graduate is looking forward to showcasing his new masterpieces.
“I invite people from Montreal to know me and other artists than me. Not just for this month,” he said.
The exhibit, which opens to the public Saturday, will also feature large format photographs from Claude Gauthier, including one that Lubanda-Kandolo posed for.
“I am a historian by training,” said exhibit curator Norman Cornett. “When we talk about Black History Month, in historiography, what is most important is to go back to the origins, back to the sources, or back to the roots. It seems to me the important principle here is to go back to Africa because that is the very fountainhead of Black history, of Black culture, and indeed what we call the Black condition.”
Free for all, the exhibit runs daily from Feb. 14-27. There will be an opening event Feb. 19 at 5 p.m.
“Montreal needs to come to see good things and good people and meet the new Montrealers from Africa and celebrate the diversity from around the world,” Lubanda-Kandolo said.
