HENRI KALAMA AKULEZ

Born in 1973 in DR Congo, Professor Kalama Akulez Henri is a painter, doctor in fine arts and phenomenology of art. Current Director of the Academy of Fine Arts of Kinshasa (Académie des Beaux-Arts de Kinshasa) since 2016, his academic training and his professional career as an artist have taken him to all four corners of the world.

First being a graduate of the Academy of Fine Arts of Kinshasa, he then became an assistant teacher at the same institution. He lived in China for several years between 2001 and 2014 to complete his university studies at the China Academy of Art in Hangzhou. He obtained a Master’s degree in 2007 and a Doctorate in visual arts and phenomenology of art in 2014.

Upon his return to the country, he was appointed Associate Professor and Head of the Department of Painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in 2015, before taking over the general management of this Institution in 2016. In 2020, he became a full Professor.

Kalama Akulez Henri is the author of several scientific articles on art, culture and the teaching of art in the DR Congo as well as on the phenomenology of art.

He is participating in various artistic and scientific activities and lectures around the world every year. His atelier “Kalama-les ateliers réunis” has been pioneering in the promotion of promising artists of the DRC since 2007 and has been changing the local art scene ever since.