The KW Institute for Contemporary Art in Berlin is hosting “RATIO,” a remarkable exhibition by Congolese artist Jean Katambayi Mukendi. Open until May 10, 2026, this exhibition offers a profound exploration of the dualities that shape our world—natural and artificial, growth and destruction, desired and discarded materials—and the intricate relationship between resources and power.
Jean Katambayi Mukendi’s Artistic Vision: A Bridge from Engineering to Art
Mukendi’s artistic practice is deeply influenced by his training as an electrician and his enduring interest in engineering and mathematics. While his works examine contemporary technological advancements, they also address the social, economic, and ecological imbalances he witnesses as consequences of global structural inequalities in resource extraction and power distribution.
For Mukendi, there is a direct correlation between those who hold physical power (energy) and the broader geopolitical axes through which power is distributed among nations. For instance, while copper is extracted from the Democratic Republic of the Congo to provide energy to other nations, he himself lives with constant power outages.
The sculptures, paintings, and drawings in “RATIO”—his first solo exhibition in Germany—were created during a residency at KW in 2025. They utilize materials collected from various locations in Berlin, including the KW warehouse and the city’s recycling centers. At the heart of the exhibition is a monumental sculpture titled mukendi kabongo Air hybrid Wings RDC26FG, inspired by machinery from the aviation, agricultural, and military sectors. By combining components of these machines, Mukendi imaginatively multiplies their functions, exploring the ecological potential of technology through the processes of recycling and reuse.
Hidden Meanings in Paintings: From Nvidia to the Balance of Nature
The installation is framed by two large-scale paintings. Divina resembles a printed circuit board, the foundation of almost all electronic devices. Its title is an anagram of Nvidia, the leading U.S.-based technology company for AI computing hardware. By merging technical diagrams with spiritual symbolism—particularly the hand at its center evoking the divine—the painting draws attention to the extraction of raw materials like copper and cobalt in the DRC, which are essential for global electronics production.
With Vita, Mukendi reflects on the social fractures shaped by competition over natural resources and living systems that struggle to find balance within a capitalist order. The painting evokes illusions of tectonics, flora, and fauna to suggest nature’s own capacity for equilibrium through the invisible axes that govern the Earth.
Placed between windows, the artist’s drawings—growing out of geometric figures and lines—create speculative reflections on human experiences related to ecology, technology, and economy, ranging from the impact of climate on human routines to cryptocurrency.
Jean Katambayi Mukendi’s “RATIO” exhibition powerfully demonstrates that art is not just an aesthetic expression, but also a potent tool for social and political critique. By hosting Mukendi’s thought-provoking work, the KW Institute for Contemporary Art invites viewers to reflect deeply on the inequalities and resource utilization in our world. This exhibition is an unmissable opportunity for anyone wishing to experience the transformative power of art.
