Verbal Description: Kambui Olujimi, Your King Is on Fire, 2020

Narrator: Your King Is on Fire, 2020 is a series of images on paper by Kambui Olujimi made of watercolor and graphite. These paintings show the fiery progression of the destruction of the statue of King Leopold II in Antwerp, Belgium. Against a cloudy black, gray, and blue background, stands the statue of King Leopold II in the center frame. The statue depicts a man with white pants and a dark military jacket leaning against a podium inscribed with a national seal. The figure holds a hat in his left hand. Flames consume the torso and head of the statue. The flames flare upward and appear to emit a gauzy blue smoke.

This series brings contemporary conversations about historical monuments into focus, especially following the presidential election of Donald Trump in 2016 and the global resistance movements against white supremacy, colonialism, and imperialism during the summer of 2020. In particular the work highlights resistance movements that responded to the nefarious history of Belgium’s participation in the practice of exploiting Africans and Africa. King Leopold II was known for enslaving and torturing Congolese families and conscripting orphans into his private army. It is estimated that his atrocities resulted in the deaths of 10 million people.