Dialogue with the Source grows from almost ten years of travel and research in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Pongo is not trying simply to map or document the country. Instead, he asks how a landscape can be experienced through stories, inherited knowledge, symbolism, technology and physical sensation. Photography, video and textile are brought together so that the exhibition feels less like a series of images and more like an environment.

Human figures are notably absent from the photographs, but people remain central to the project. During his journeys, Pongo worked with researchers and local communities, allowing their knowledge and stories to shape the work. This keeps the landscape from becoming an empty aesthetic spectacle: land is understood as something inhabited, remembered and culturally meaningful.

Léonard Pongo (b. 1988) is a Belgian-Congolese artist whose practice combines photography, film and installation. His work draws strongly on Congolese traditions, philosophy and symbolism, while also experimenting with photographic technologies that extend what the human eye can perceive. His work has previously appeared at Tate Modern and Jeu de Paume, and he participated in FOMU’s .tiff emerging-talent programme in 2019.