Studie(s) en diploma's

PhD

Huidige functieomschrijving

Professor / onderzoeker / filmmaker

Ervaring

Matthias De Groof is an award-winning filmmaker whose films (Lobi Kuna, Palimpsest…) have been presented at venues like the IFFR, FIFA and the Berlinale. His edited book on Lumumba in the Arts is published with Leuven University Press, and reached the top-100 "books to escape the news" (LitHub). He has held fellow appointments at the New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts as a Fulbright scholar; the Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Studies; and the Africa Multiple Cluster of Excellence of the Bayreuth University. Currently, De Groof is professor at the UA and VUB, and postdoctoral researcher at the Waseda University in Tokyo. He will continue his research as a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellow at the University of Amsterdam and the Rachel Carson Center for Environment Humanities.

Relevante Publicaties

Books
- De Groof, Matthias (ed.), Lumumba in the Arts. Leuven University Press, 2020

Articles in A1 peer-reviewed Academic Journals
- Issue: Film and Non-Western Thought. Journal of Philosophy and the Moving Image (abstract accepted)
- “Patrice Lumumba in Japan” in (issue: Revisiting Global Appropriations of Black Cultures), Critical Interventions: Journal of African Art History and Visual Culture, 2021 (abstract accepted)
- ANTICOLONIAL AESTHETICS: TOWARDS ECO-CINEMA. (Issue: The Afterlives of Anticolonial Aesthetics in Cinema), Interventions: Journal of Postcolonial Studies, 2021(2) (forthcoming)
- "Maki'la”, in African Studies Review, 2022 (forthcoming)
- (with Alessandro Jedlowski). “Congolese Cinema Today: Memories of the Present in Kinshasa’s New Wave Cinema (2008-2018)” in Francofonia, 2019, 117-135
- “Ethnographic Film’s relation to African Cinema: Safi Faye and Jean Rouch” in Visual Anthropology, Vol. 31:4-5, 426-444, 2018
- (with Emi Koide, et al). "Mediating Past, Present and Future of D.R.Congo’s Historical Narratives on Art in a Global South Dialogue" in Koide, Emi; Matthias De Groof; et al (eds.) A Global South Dialogue on African Art and Historical Narratives from R.D Congo, Artl@s Bulletin 7, no. 1 (2018): 5-11
- “Lumumba’s Iconography as Interstice between Art and History”, in Koide, Emi; Matthias De Groof; Ruth Sacks; Patrick Missassi; Henri Kalama; and David Andrew. "Mediating Past, Present and Future of D.R.Congo’s Historical Narratives on Art in a Global South Dialogue." Artl@s Bulletin 7, no. 1 (2018): p38-44
- “Cadrer temps et histoire – Utiliser l’art pour défier les conceptions de temps et histoire”, in Koide, Emi; Ruth Sacks; Matthias De Groof; Patrick Missassi; Henri Kalama; and David Andrew. "Mediating Past, Present and Future of D.R.Congo’s Historical Narratives on Art in a Global South Dialogue." Artl@s Bulletin 7, no. 1 (2018): p82-85
- “Nollywood. The Creation of Nigerian Film Genres”, Journal of African Media Studies, Volume 9, Issue 1, 2017, 229-234. (book review)
- (with Stéphane Symons). “The Muses of the Black Audio Film Collective and Smoking Dogs Films”, in De Groof, Matthias & Symons, Stéphane (eds). “Close-Up: John Akomfrah and the Black Audio Film Collective”, in Black Camera, An International Film Journal, Vol. 6 no. 2 (Spring 2015), 52-57
- (with Stéphane Symons). “Memory and Creative Forgetfulness in The Nine Muses”, in De Groof, Matthias & Symons, Stéphane (eds). “Close-Up: John Akomfrah and the Black Audio Film Collective”, in Black Camera, An International Film Journal, Vol. 6 no. 2 (Spring 2015),147-153
- “Images & Animation. Introduction au cinéma d’animation en République Démocratique de Congo, au Rwanda et au Burundi”, in Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, Volume 35, Issue 3, 2015, 519-521. (book review)
- “Empire and Film”, in Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, Volume 35, Issue 2, 2015, 359-361. (book review)
- “Film and the end of Empire”, in Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, Volume 35, Issue 2, 2015, pages 361-363. (book review)
- (with Kathleen Gyssels). “Give Me Back My Black Dolls: Damas’ Africa and Its Museification, From Poetry to Moving Pictures” in Imaginations: Journal of Cross-Cultural Image Studies/ Revue d’Études Interculturelles de l’Image, 6:2 (2015): 112-123
- “Postcolonial cinema studies”, in Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, vol 34, issue 2, June 2013, pages 323-324 (book review)
- “How Text Reflects on Context. Representation of African film audiences in Aristotle’s Plot”, in Journal of African Cinema, Volume 5, Issue 2, October 2013, 181-202.
- “Rouch’s Reflexive Turn, Indigenous Film as the Outcome of Reflexivity in Ethnographic Film”, in Visual Anthropology, 26: 1–23, 2013
- “Black Film Label. Negritude and Cinema”, Third Text, vol. 24, Issue 2, March, 2010, 249-62
- “Statues Also Die - but their death is not the final word”, in Image [&] Narrative, Vol. 11, no 1, 2010

A2. Articles in A2 scientific journals
- "L'Odyssée de Lumumba. Le rapatriement de la dépouille de Lumumba". In Revue d’Histoire Contemporaine de l’Afrique, No3, 2022
- “L’art comme seuil – Le seuil comme art. Le cas de Lobi Kuna (avant-hier/après-demain)” in Vivre sur le seuil, Africa&Mediterraneo. 2019. p.57-61
- "Les statues meurent aussi - mais leur mort n'est pas le dernier mot ", in François Bovier et Serge Margel, éd., Special Issue "le cinéma ethnographique", in Décadrages. Cinéma, à travers champs, n° 40-42 ; Lausanne, 2019, p73-93
- "Reflexieve ethiek in Renzo Martens’ episode iii (enjoy poverty)”, in Ethische Perspectieven, KUL, Peeters, 25: 3, 2015, p 243 – 251.
- "Le Glas, comment sonne-t-il?", in François Bovier et Cédric Fluckiger, éd., Special Issue "René Vautier", in Décadrages. Cinéma, à travers champs, n° 29-30 ; printemps 2015, Lausanne, pp. 31-44.

B2. Book Chapters
- “Cinéma en RD Congo”, in Cinéma des indépendances, Cinéma sur la Guerre d'indépendance, Turquoise, 2022 (forthcoming)
- “A Cinematic Way Out of Africa’s Declining Future: Jean-Pierre Bekolo’s Les Saignantes”, in Aesthetics of the Future: The Cinema of Jean-Pierre Bekolo, Michigan State University Press (forthcoming)
- “From Leopold III’s Master of the Jungle to Contemporary Congolese Eco-Cinema: Postcolonial Resonance”, in Pierre-Philippe Fraiture (ed.), Central Africa and Belgium Empire and Postcolonial Resonance, Leuven University Press, 2022, forthcoming
- "Episode III: Enjoy Poverty from a Postcolonial Perspective (2015)", in Anthony Downey and Els Roelandt (eds.). Critique in Practice: Renzo Martens’ Episode III: Enjoy Poverty. Sternberg Press, Berlin-New York, 2020, 143-151
- “Introduction: The Iconography of Patrice Emery Lumumba” in De Groof, Matthias (ed.), Lumumba in the Arts, Leuven University Press, 2020, p. 6-23
- (with Elikia M’Bokolo and Julien Truddaïu). “The History of Patrice Lumumba’s Historiography” in De Groof, Matthias (ed.), Lumumba in the Arts, Leuven University Press, 2020, p. 94-105
- “Lumumba in Cinema” in De Groof, Matthias (ed.), Lumumba in the Arts, Leuven University Press, 2020, p. 144-172
- (with Balufu Bakupa-Kanyinda). “Imagining Lumumba” in De Groof, Matthias (ed.), Lumumba in the Arts, Leuven University Press, 2020, p. 207-216
- (with Marlene Dumas and Luc Tuymans). “My Pauline and Your Patrice” in De Groof, Matthias (ed.), Lumumba in the Arts, Leuven University Press, 2020, p. 361-372
- “Epilogue – Shilatembo” in De Groof, Matthias (ed.), Lumumba in the Arts, Leuven University Press, 2020, p.424-432
- De Groof, Matthias. “Onder het witte masker. De film die Paul Haesaerts had kunnen maken”, in 100x Congo, Museum aan de Stroom, Antwerpen, 2020, 141-143
- “CONGOCENE. Congolese Cinema in / on / against the Anthropocene”, in Marina Gržinić and Sophie Uitz (eds.), Rethinking the Past for a New Future of Conviviality: Opposing Colonialism, Anti-Semitism, Turbo-Nationalism, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, Cambridge, 2019, 87-109
- "Lumumba réincarné. Le mythe et la praxis en Belgique", in Rosario Giordano, Edoardo Quaretta & Donatien Dibwe dia Mwembu (eds.), “L’expérience fait la différence”. Dynamiques sociales et représentations au Congo et dans la diaspora, Collection La Région des Grands Lacs Africains, L'Harmattan, 2019, p181-192
- “Bienvenu au divertissement", in Discours du Roi des Belges le 8 décembre 2018, Laurent d’Ursel et Eddy Ekete Embesa (eds), Maelstöm Reevolution, Bruxelles, 2018, 38-9
- “Postcolonial Cinema”, in M. Bush, N. Hlabangane and S. Hira (eds.), Decoloniality in the Social Sciences – A Textbook on Theory and Practice, DIN, 2020 (forthcoming)
- “Grey Matter, An Interview with Director Kivu Ruhorahoza”, in Matthew Edwards (ed), The Rwandan Genocide on Film. Critical Essays and Interviews. Jefferson, North Carolina : McFarland & Company, 2018, p. 190-9
- “How Bekolo’s Oeuvre Dynamizes African Cinema. Nollywood, Sembène and Mambety”, in Christoph Vatter & Ute Fendler (eds.), Dynamiques culturelles dans les cinémas africains du XXIe siècle. Acteurs, formats, réseaux. / Cultural Dynamics in African Cinemas of the 21st Century. Agents, Formats, Genres. Saarland University Press, Saarbrücken, 2018, p.11-26
- “Belgien”, in Handbuch Postkolonialismus und Literatur, Herausgegeben von Dirk Göttsche, Axel Dunker und Gabriele Dürbeck, Verlag J.B. Metzler, Stuttgart/Weimar, 2017 p396-398
- "Lobi (Hier/Demain), un film expérimental sur la commémoration de l’Indépendance du Congo" in Gia Abrassart & Sarah Demart (eds.), Créer en postcolonie 2010-2015. Voix et dissidences belgo-congolaises, Le Palais des Beaux-Arts de Bruxelles (BOZAR) & Africalia, 2016, p94-101.
- “The Wonderful Workspace of the Future” in A Collection of 151 Artist’s Visions, Arts Centre Buda, Kortrijk, 2016, p6
- “Intriguing African Storytelling”, in Storytelling in World Cinemas: Narrative Forms and Contexts, L. Khatib, Editor, Wallflower Press (Columbia University Press): New York, 2012, p115-134
- “Poor Enjoyment” in Dhaenens, L., Van Gelder, H. Kunstkritiek: standpunten rond beeldende kunsten uit België en Nederland in een internationaal perspectief (1985-2010). Tielt: LannooCampus, 2010
- “Self-Images in Postcolonial West- and Central Africa: An explorative research into the African and European Cinematographic Representation in a Comparative Perspective”, in Democracy, Journalism and Technology: New Developments in an Enlarged Europe. The Intellectual Work of Ecrea’s 2008 European Media and Communication Doctoral Summer School, N. Carpentier, Editor, Tartu University Press: Tartu, 2008

C1. Papers in proceedings of scientific conferences
- “Affirmative Sabotage in the Archive”, in Miles, Rachel S., Alana Osbourne, Eleni Tzialli & Esther Captain, editors. Inward Outward, Critical Archival Engagements with Sounds and Films of Coloniality: A Publication of the 2020 Inward Outward Symposium. Hilversum, Inward Outward, 2020, p18-21
- “Can a Film be a Ritual? On the Possibility of Reatualistic Cinema,” in International Conference on Philosophy and Film eProceedings Volume 1, 2014, edited Susana Viegas and Maria Teresa Teixeira, Lissabon: Centro de Filosofia da Universidade de Lisboa, 2015, p186-197
- Assimilation of cinematographic techniques by African filmmakers. In order to be not assimilated? A Plea for Anthropophagy, online publication in MediaModes. School of Visual Arts : New York, 2009

C2. Doctoral dissertation
- Deep Focus: Jean-Pierre Bekolo's films in the context of African cinema, PhD-thesis, Universiteit Antwerpen (Belgium), 2012, 260 pages; Proquest, 3535433

C4. All other publications or items of scientific output.
- (with Stéphane Symons) “Geheugen en creatief vergeten in The Nine Muses”, Fantômas, 2021 (1), 68-75
- “Review: Kapita”, Ultradogme, May 13th, 2021. (online)
- “The Pangolin of Film and Photobooks. The Multiple Contradictions of Les Seigneurs de la Forêt" in Trigger #2. Uncertainty. FOMU / Fw:Books. 2020. p.65-71
- Monique Mbeka Phoba, Laura Nsengiyumva, Pitcho Womba Konga and Matthias De Groof, “Memory/History: The Power of Decolonialization, Art and Interventions” in Marina Gržinić et al. (eds), Dialogues for the Future: Countering the Genealogy of Amnesia, Belgrade : Centre for Cultural Decontamination CZKD ; Vienna : Academy of Fine Arts, 2020, p 42-55
- Busselen, Lies & Matthias De Groof. “Van antikoloniale beeldenstorm naar restitutie”. Lava Media. 14. 2020. p.137-149
- Le scuse del Belgio sul passato coloniale” in Gli Asini, July 15th 2020
- “Lumumba’s iconography in the arts” in Africa Is a Country, July 2nd 2020
- “Lumumba’s enduring gift to the arts” in SouthernTimesAfrica, July 10th 2020
- “Columbus on a spaceship, or: Decolonising the Anthropocene” in Viewfinder Magazine. Learning On Screen: The British Universities and Colleges Film and Video Council, Issue 114, 2020
- “BLACK SUN: Een nooit eerder vertoonde Sovjet film over Patrice Lumumba”. In Filmmagie, 2020, p.12
- (with Kristin Rogghe and Francis Mampuya). “Tervuren Invisible”, in BOAS Blog. How to move on with Humboldt's legacy? Feb 10, 2020
- “Columbus op een ruimteschip. Of: Koloniaal Anthropoceen”, in Kolonialisme revisited, Uit het Erasmushuis, tijdschrift van de Alumni Letteren Leuven, jg. 9, april 2020, Leuven: Acco; p. 19-24
- “Wat klimaatverandering en kolonialisme met elkaar te maken hebben” in De Wereld Morgen, February 5, 2020
- “Art reminds us of the impossibility of his death and leaves us horrified every time one remembers the tragedy”, in Leuven University Press Blog. 14 January 2020.
- “Black: de alchemie van genotschuld”, in Rekto:Verso Tijdschrift voor Cultuur en Kritiek, april 2019 (online)
- “Afrikaanse films tonen de verworpen aarde, en het effect op de verworpenen der aarde”, in MO* Mondiaal Nieuws, 12/03/2019
- “Congo op het FESPACO, dé plek waar Afrikaanse filmmakers professionele erkenning krijgen”, in MO* Mondiaal Nieuws, 5/3/2019
- “Een halve eeuw Afrikaanse film om de geesten te “dekoloniseren””, in MO* Mondiaal Nieuws, 25/02/2019
- "PALIMPSEST - LOBI KUNA – DIORAMA : Three Stories of a Crippled Decolonization of the Africa Museum”, in Genealogy of Amnesia: Rethinking the Past for a New Future of Conviviality, webplatform
- “Décolonialisme, ou les palimpsestes de l’AfricaMuseum”, in l’Art Même, Bruxelles, 2019, p26-7
- “The Museum we Love to Hate”, in Repenser le Musée – Rethinking the Museum, Kumbuka Zine Decoloniale, Bruxelles, 2018, 24-6
- “De jonge Karl Marx: Marx’ vleesgeworden Woord”, in Aktief, november 2018
- “Matthias de Groof on Decolonisation at Tampere Film Festival”, in Koneen Säätiö’s Boldness Blog, 13/03/2018
- “Knapzak”, in Ik heb een vraag - Wetenschappers geven antwoord, Koninklijk Belgisch Instituut voor Natuurwetenschappen, 2018, p89
- (with Heleen Debeuckelaere). “Lumumba gedekoloniseerd”, in Rekto:Verso Tijdschrift voor Cultuur en Kritiek, 17, januari 2018 (online)
- “Le jeune Karl Marx: Marx’ vleesgeworden Woord”, in Rekto:Verso Tijdschrift voor Cultuur en Kritiek, nr.77, 16 oktober, 2017 (online)
- “Marx’ vleesgeworden Woord”, in Filmmagie, n°678, oktober 2017
- “Opinie: Was de Congolese onafhankelijkheid een goed idee?” in De Morgen, 30 juni 2017
- "Re:spons - een briefwisseling over Raoul Pecks documentaire I Am Not Your Negro” in Rekto:Verso Tijdschrift voor Cultuur en Kritiek, n°75, 2017
- « projection des films créés par les artistes participants au colloque », in Institut Français, R.D.Congo, Jan-Fév 2016, p 26-27
- “Black History Month”, in Versiety Media (online cultuur platform), January 24, 2017
- "De Congo-nostalgie van de VRT", in Dossier: Congo 50 jaar onafhankelijk. Mo* Mondiaal Nieuws, no. 922 (43), 6 sept 2010
- “De Congo-nostalgie van de VRT”, in Rekto:Verso, Nr. 43 september-oktober 2010
- “Poor Enjoyment”, in Rekto:Verso, n°36, 2009
- “Spectres”, in Zomerlijn, Rekto:Verso, 2011
- (with Orlando Verde, Rob Jacobs and Anne Reijniers). “Het voetstuk van Leopold II” in Rekto:Verso Tijdschrift voor Cultuur en Kritiek, 73, 2016 (online)
- (with Rosa Spaliviero, Guillaume Maupin and Nicolas Bras). « Africa is/in the Future », in NOVA cinéma bioscoop, Bruxelles, N°154, mai - juin 2016, p8-9
- “Native cinema: films van en/of over inheemse bevolkingsgroepen”, in MOOOV CineBib e-Learning Dossier, MOOOV, Brugge / Turnhout, 2016
- "Le Stuart Hall Project : une conversation inachevé", in Dossier Filmer à tout prix, Causes Toujours, La revue trimestrielle du GSARA, 2015
- "Niet over, Maar in De Strijd", in Rekto:Verso Tijdschrift voor Cultuur en Kritiek, Juni-September: 67, 2015 (online)
- “Signalement: In and Out of Brussels”, in Rekto:Verso Tijdschrift voor Cultuur en Kritiek, n°56, 2013
- “Grey Matter”, in FilmAfrica, The Royal African Society and SOAS, 26 October 2012
- "If the Image Is the Problem, the Image Is the Answer Too! A Conversation on Science-Fiction in an African Context / Si l’image est le problème, elle en constitue aussi la solution ! Une conversation autour de la science-fiction dans un contexte africain", in JAMAN - DiARTgonale - Enough Room for Space 1.1 (2012): 58-70
- “Animal Love; Ezra ; Faro, la Reine des Eaux ; Forbidden Zone ; Munyurangabo ; Pale Peko Bantu Mambo Ayikosake ; The Island; The Mask; Vase de noces; 4 months, 3 weeks & 2 days ; Il va pleuvoir sur Conacry ; Technocalyps; …” in Online filmtijdschrift: K.U.T.-site, 2006-8
- "Les forces et faiblesses du powerpoint", La Savate, n°313, 12 décembre 2005
- “Het spel van de blik in Afrikaanse cinemas” (Master-thesis Filmstudies). P.S.W., C.W., U.A. , Antwerpen. 2006
- "La justification de la guerre, la pensée de Carl Schmitt" (Master-thesis Sciences Politiques, R.I.). Sciences Politiques, Relations Internationales, Louvain-la-Neuve. 2005
- “Europa Mensura” (licentiaatsverhandeling Wijsbegeerte). Philosophy, H.I.W., K.U.L., Leuven. 2004

Translations
- (with Stéphane Symons) “Geheugen en creatief vergeten in The Nine Muses”, Fantômas, 2021 (1), 68-75
- De Groof, Matthias. “Sous le masque blanc. Le film que Paul Haesaerts aurait pu tourner”, in 100x Congo, Museum aan de Stroom, Antwerpen, 2020, 141-143
- (with Lies Busselen). “De l'iconoclasme anticolonial à la restitution”. Lava Media. 14. 2020. p.135-147
- "Les statues meurent aussi - mais leur mort n'est pas le dernier mot ", in François Bovier et Serge Margel, éd., Special Issue " le cinéma ethnographique", in Décadrages. Cinéma, à travers champs, n° 40-42 ; Lausanne, 2019, p73-93
- “The Museum we Love to Hate”, in l’Art Même, Bruxelles, 2019 (translation)
- "Enjoy Poverty in Postkoloniaal Perspectief", in Episode III: Enjoy Poverty. Reception History of a Controversial Film, Sternberg Press, Berlin-New York, 2020

Relevante onderzoeken

2022 - … Ecologies of indigenous filmmaking in the Democratic Republic of Congo. HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF.
2021 Mapping Participatory Audio-visual Creation in Flanders, Belgium. Demos vzw
2020 - 2023 Research on Creative Industries in DR Congo, with a focus on Indigeneity. Le Fonds d'analyse des sociétés politiques (FASOPO) and l’Agence Française du Développent (AFD). Part of "La fabrique des communautés imaginées: liens sociaux, filières économiques et enjeux politiques des industries culturelles en Afrique"
2021 - 2022 Eco Film Congo. Environmental Films from the global South. UA Global Minds
2021 - 2022 Dealing with the Past. Japanese Cinema and Colonialism. CANON Foundation, Waseda University, Tokyo
2019 - 2020 African Cinemas against the Anthropocene. “Africa Multiple” Cluster of Excellence - Bayreuth Academy
2018 - 2020 Genealogy of Amnesia. Rethinking the Past for a new Future of Conviviality, Austrian Science Fund FWF (as scientific partner)
2018 Iconography of Lumumba in the Arts. KONE-Foundations (Finland)
2017 - 2019 Mobilità-stabilizzazione. Rappresentazioni congolesi e dinamiche sociali, in Congo e nello spazio globale, PRIN: Progetti Di Ricerca Di Rilevante Interesse Nazionale – Bando 2015 (as scientific partner)
2017 Liminality in Congolese Art. Research Stay at UNILU (Univ. of Lubumbashi, Congo). FWO (Research Foundation – Flanders)
2013 - 2017 Postcolonial Transitions and Museology in Film. VAF (Flanders Audiovisual Fund)
2013 - 2017 Belgian Cinema from a Postcolonial Perspective. FWO (Research Foundation – Flanders)
2009 - 2021 African Cinema. An Interdisciplinary Study through the work of Jean-Pierre Bekolo. Dehousse-grant, BOF-grant (Bijzonder Onderzoeksfonds), Fulbright Honorary Fellowship and travel grant, Full grant by the Belgian American Education Foundation (BAEF), NYU
2007 Researching the audio-visual archive at the Jerusalem Cinematheque. VAF (Flanders Audiovisual Fund)
2006 The Game of the Gaze. Researching African Cinemas. VLIR/UOS
2003 - 2004 Europa Mensura. A Philosophical Research into Eurocentrism. VLIR/UOS Individual cooperation development projects between K.U.Leuven and Uganda Martyrs University
2002 - 2003 An Audio-Visual Research into Toys and Games in the DR Congo. JINT-ExtraTime (Belgian Ministry of Culture)