KRISS MUNSYA - EXPOSURE INTERNATIONAL OPEN CALL

Born in the Democratic Republic of Congo and raised in Brussels, Belgium in the ‘90s, Munsya became aware of his differences early on. In his white-dominated surroundings, he became accustomed to experiences with normalized discrimination, oppression, and violence.

The Eraser illustrates a journey from isolation to belonging. As Munsya revisits memories of violence and discrimination, re-imagining them in hopes of transforming his future, he embarks on a process of self-healing. Throughout he is called to self-compassion as the past brings up unexpected things in its reimagination, reclamation, and resolution.

The Eraser was inspired by audio and visual artists who have explored memory and how we wish to access the unseen areas of our sub/conscious experiences. In Munsya’s imagination, Michel Gondry’s Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon, and Thom Yorke’s The Eraser coalesce and inform his exploration of love, loss, and reclamation.

BIOGRAPHY

Kriss Munsya is a Congolese-born visual artist currently living in Vancouver, BC.

He grew up in Brussels, Belgium in the ‘90s, and that era was very important for him. As a first- generation African immigrant, Munsya was consistently confronted with normalized and often violent racism from a young age. These experiences fed his vision of the world and himself within it.

Munsya is a self-taught artist, with experience in photography, graphic design, music and video production. Art has been present in his life from an early age, but he decided to focus on photography five years because of his increasing involvement in social movements. He perceives photography to be an impactful medium that translates his experiences into open invitations to question the status quo.