RATIO, Jean Katambayi Mukendi’s commission for IN SITU, spans newly produced drawings, paintings and large-scale sculptures. The exhibition addresses global structural inequities in resource extraction and the distribution of power.
RATIO | Artist | Credits | Plan your visit
RATIO
RATIO, Jean Katambayi Mukendi’s commission for IN SITU, spans newly produced drawings, paintings and large-scale sculptures. The exhibition addresses global structural inequities in resource extraction and the distribution of power. It questions the dualities that shape our world: between the natural and the artificial, growth and destruction.
Mukendi’s sculptural works respond to contemporary technological developments, from agriculture to robotics and military systems. Built as composite structures, they merge and reconfigure machine functions, testing what these technologies might become when approached through recycling and repurposing, and when imagined for their ecological potential.
The artist’s drawings extend these inquiries, offering observations and speculative reflections on human experience in relation to ecology, economy and language, among others.
RATIO is Mukendi’s first solo museum presentation and is part of Muhka’s IN SITU programme, dedicated to newly commissioned work.
About the artist
Jean Katambayi Mukendi (b. 1974, DRC) lives and works in Lubumbashi. He works across drawing, sculpture and installation, often engaging with scientific research, mathematics and electrical systems. Trained as an industrial electrician, his practice draws on technical knowledge and speculative thinking to address social, political and economic infrastructures.
Recent projects include exhibitions and events at institutions such as NS-Dokuzentrum, Munich (2025); Muhka, Antwerp (2025, 2017); MoMA PS1, New York (2025); Swiss Institute, New York (2024); Venice Biennale, Congolese Pavilion (2024); Manifesta 15, Barcelona (2024); Kunsthalle Kohta, Helsinki (2022); Etablissement d’en Face, Brussels (2019); Biennale de Lubumbashi, Lubumbashi (2017, 2015); and Enough Room for Space, Brussels (2016).
Mukendi is a member and president of Picha, an artist-run platform dedicated to the promotion and development of a sustainable artistic scene in Lubumbashi.
Credits and publication
The exhibition is curated by Emma Enderby and Linda Franken (KW) and Anne-Claire Schmitz (Muhka), and co-produced with KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin. The works were constructed during a production residency held in Berlin in autumn 2025, using locally sourced recycled materials.
A first iteration of RATIO is presented at KW from 21 February to 10 May 2026.
The exhibition is accompanied by Circuits, Mukendi’s first monographic publication, co-edited by Leuven University Press, the Contemporary Art Committee KU Leuven, KW and Muhka.
Edition available
On the occasion of RATIO, Muhka offers a signed and numbered edition by Jean Katambayi Mukendi: Genetisch / Chromosomique (2021), offset print, 88.5 × 64 cm, edition of 50. The edition is available for € 200.
Photo: Jean Katambayi Mukendi, artist residency for RATIO at KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin 2025. Photo: David von Becker.
Plan your visit
PRACTICAL INFORMATION
Date: 06.06–27.09.2026
Location: Muhka, ground floor
Address: Leuvenstraat 32, 2000 Antwerp
Tickets: You can buy a ticket at Reception. See also the ticket prices.
![Suchan Kinoshita, Arrows [Pijlen], 2002. Collectie M HKA](https://wp-assets-sh.imgix.net/sites/15610/2026/05/web-image_04_Kinoshita.jpg?ar=3%3A2&crop=faces%2Centropy&fit=crop&auto=format&q=60&dpr=1&h=305)
