The photographs fundamentally shifted public awareness of the deep-rooted hypocrisy of Leopold’s promise of colonial benevolence, and caused an outcry at the time of their publication in Europe and America.

Over 100 years later, these issues remain of primary concern to Congolese citizen and artist Sammy Baloji. Like Harris, Baloji uses photography as a medium to interrogate current political concerns with reference to the past. In his new body of work commissioned by Autograph, photomontages juxtapose desolate post-industrial landscapes with ethnographic archival imagery, to explore the cultural and architectural traces of a country forever haunted by the spectres of its colonial past; in particular, the southeastern Katanga province and its capital, Lubumbashi.

Notions of African utopias, post-colonial disillusionment, and a quest for authenticity amidst the ruins of modernity define Baloji’s multi-layered practice: the impact of Western imperialism, Maoist communism, urban segregation and colonial sanitation politics as well as the unending mineral exploitation of the Congo’s natural resources, and with it the tragedies and traumas of state-controlled violence and ongoing human rights abuses.

Congo Dialogues marks the 175th anniversary of Anti-Slavery International and the invention of photography. The first major solo showcase of Sammy Baloji’s work in the UK, this exhibition presents a unique opportunity to see both historical and contemporary works interrogating the Congo and its colonial legacies. The Alice Seeley Harris archive was last shown to the public 110 years ago.