Aza Mansongi Congolese, b. 1980

Difficult starts at school

Aza Mansongi was born on June 13, 1980 in Kinshasa. Growing as a child, she used her left hand more than her right hand. It was by trying to force her to write with her right hand that her problems with adapting to school arose.  “I had huge difficulties,” she recalls. "My parents were worried and didn't know what to do to help me."

Having noticed that Aza was often distracted and that she seemed rather inclined to make small drawings in her notebook, a teacher advised her parents to consult a psychologist and enroll her in a specialized school. The latter revealed the cause of her problem and told the parents that, given her difficulties in adapting, it would take a lot of time and willpower on the part of their daughter to overcome what was then a great learning handicap.

In her parents' entourage, some would sometimes suggest, not without irony and with a fatalistic tone, that she was made for a manual trade, that is: a socially devalued job.  Despite this mockery and denigration, Aza's parents decided to push the little girl towards a greater social and professional future. They did not stop encouraging her, even if she was barely making progress.

Aza's parents discover her talent and direct her towards artistic studies

Aza Mansongi's father played a determining role in her vocation as an artist.  He bought her comic strips from which she got inspired for her drawings.

One day, her mother discovered a whole pile of handmade reproductions under Aza's bed and showed it to her father. The latter in turn introduced them to an artist who assured him that his daughter had talent. That’s how Aza consented to integrate the artistic learning and began to shine at school until obtaining her diploma in artistic studies at secondary level.

Having regained her self-confidence, a few years later she obtained her diploma of higher studies at the Academy of Fine Arts in Kinshasa.

A decisive meeting

After obtaining her diploma of higher studies at the Academy of Fine Arts of Kinshasa, Aza tried to embark on professional life.

After a year of research, a friend proposed her to join the Ateliers Botembe.  Which she did, because, at the time she found Atelier Botembe was according to her memories, the best organized workshop in Kinshasa. There, she met up with two Cameroonian artists who had just joined the studio.

Something bounded the three artists who happened to share the same vision.  After four years of hardworking, they left the Botembe workshop and created a group – Kokoriko  - which has allowed them to undertake several exhibitions in Kinshasa and Douala, until the dissolution of the collective in 2014. “We thought it was time that everyone goes solo; it was a collective decision."

From Kinshasa to Douala 

Aza Mansongi landed in Cameroon thanks to the invitation of her two Cameroonian teammates and for the love of discovery; she developed an affability for the country which brought her new experiences.