Emmanuel Koto

Emmanuel Koto (b. 1989, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo) is a multidisciplinary artist whose practice spans photography, video, sculpture, and installation. Working from an embodied, self-taught methodology, his work investigates the politics of perception: how identities are constructed, negotiated, and often confined through the gaze of others. Drawing from the complexities of racial, social, and cultural hybridity, Koto transforms personal and collective experience into visual inquiries that challenge dominant narratives.

His early photo series Kin TV, in which he photographed television broadcasts, evolved into a broader research on societal tensions in contemporary Congolese life. A pivotal moment in his trajectory came in 2019 during a creative exchange in Kinshasa, where he began confronting the psychic weight of visibility and difference, an exploration that continues to define his practice.

Koto’s work has been exhibited internationally, including: Vantage Point Sharjah 7 (UAE); the Congo Biennale and Lubumbashi Biennale (DRC); Chroniques Urbaines at the Cité de l’Architecture (Paris); and multiple OFF exhibitions of Dak’Art – Biennale of Contemporary African Art (Senegal). His first institutional solo exhibition took place in 2023 at Horner Eck in Bremen, Germany, following a cross-continental residency between Kinshasa and Bremen.

He currently lives and works in Kinshasa, continuing to expand a practice rooted in critical reflection, experimentation, and material transformation.