In this session of the RecAf Forum on Language Work, Flavia Aiello and Roberto Gaudioso from the University of Naples "L'Orientale" will present on "Navigating across languages: a conversation with Patrick Mudekereza".:

During the RecAf Forum, we will engage in a dialogue with Patrick Mudekereza about his work with language, both in the context of his collaborations with contemporary African artists and in his roles as a researcher and poet. We first met Patrick Mudekereza in Lubumbashi in 2018 as part of a UNIOR project on verbal arts in Lubumbashi Swahili.
Swahili poetry in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) offers an important but often overlooked perspective on the expansion of the language and its role in cultural production. While creative writing in the DRC has long been dominated by French, Swahili has become a vibrant medium for songs, oral performances, and written poetry. These productions remain relatively invisible compared to East African Swahili literature, yet they highlight the dynamism of multilingual and multicultural expression in the Congolese context.
Historically, Congolese literary creativity began with local languages, particularly through missionary and colonial educational initiatives in the early 20th century. Over time, French came to dominate literary production. Nevertheless, important Swahili poetic voices emerged, especially from regions such as Kivu and Katanga. Figures such as Jean-Robert Kasele Laisi Watutwa, Charles Djungu-Simba, and Huit Mulongo Kalonda Ba-Mpeta made significant contributions, though their works circulate only to a limited extent and remain overshadowed by French-language publications.
In Lubumbashi, the linguistic landscape is especially complex. The city is characterized by the coexistence of multiple forms of Swahili (viswahili), shaped by migration, colonial policies, and the mining industry. A local variety of Swahili developed in the industrial colonial context, enriched by borrowings from other Bantu languages, French, and English. This urban Swahili today often functions as a first language for residents, yet it remains primarily oral, with frequent switches to other languages. It is used in informal contexts, the religious sphere, creative expression, and— to a lesser extent— in the information sector. In formal contexts and education, French is primarily employed. Formal education and publishing in Swahili are limited, leaving written production relatively scarce. Today, however, Lubumbashi’s cultural scene includes popular theatre, rap, songs, and unpublished poetic works that demonstrate the vitality of Swahili as a creative language.
Within this environment, Patrick Mudekereza stands out as a prominent figure. Born in Lubumbashi in 1983, he is a cultural operator, writer, and researcher, currently pursuing a PhD at the University of Brussels. He has participated in many artistic residencies, cultural projects, and publications, curated numerous exhibitions in Africa and Europe, is a member of several international professional networks, and serves as director of the cultural centre WAZA in Lubumbashi.
Mudekereza composes poetic texts—so far unpublished—in Swahili and French, often combining these languages within the same piece and occasionally interspersing them with Lingala. His poetry reflects the city’s multilingualism and the hybridity of its literary traditions. Rather than separating languages, his verses invite them into dialogue, transforming them into expressions of hospitality and shared identity, as he writes in one poem: “Kwetu ni kwenu” (“My home is your home”).
Mudekereza’s poetry also foregrounds the body and everyday life in Lubumbashi. He often portrays the city’s workers—miners, farmers, shoe shiners—through vivid, concrete images. His verses embrace transgression and irony, combining elements of the erotic, the corporeal, and the mundane. In poems where dirt, sweat, and physical needs appear alongside beauty and desire, Mudekereza overturns traditional hierarchies between the “elevated” and the “low.” For example, in the poem “Pima tuyambe” (“Dare, and let’s go defecate”), erotic ecstasy and bodily functions become metaphors for liberation, purification, and communal joy. Through rhythm, repetition, and double meanings, the text conveys a sense of freedom that links personal intimacy to broader social emancipation.
Mudekereza’s work resonates strongly with Congolese oral traditions. He draws inspiration from zangazanga funeral songs, known for their humour and obscenity, and from kalindula music, a style popular in Katanga and neighbouring Zambia, marked by satire, irony, and social critique. These traditions, together with influences from global artistic forms, shape a poetry that is at once local and cosmopolitan. His verses represent an innovative voice within the Congolese cultural landscape and expand the boundaries of Swahili literature.

Time: 10 October 2025, 17:00 CEST

The RecAf Forum takes place online via Zoom. To join, click the link below: