Basandja California and European Tour

Friends of the Congo in partnership with the Basandja Coalition is undertaking a Spring tour in the United States and Europe from April 16th to May 31st. Due to its successful tour in the Fall of 2024 in the United States and Canada, the Coalition is returning to California (Los Angeles and San Francisco) for two weeks of film screening, presentations, workshops and photo display from April 16 – 30.

The delegation will embark on a European Tour from May 1 to May 31st starting in London, England and then make stops in Brussels, Belgium, Amsterdam, Netherlands, Paris, France and Lisbon, Spain

They will share their organizing and movement building experiences from the frontlines of the rainforest, mining communities, conflict zones and urban centers in the DRC. The delegation is made up of members of the Basandja Coalition and their allies: Petna Ndaliko Katondolo, Filmmaker, Activist and Educator; Samuel Yagase Bayombe, Indigenous Leader and Stella Ramazani of Yole Africa.

The delegation will participate in a special Congo cultural exhibit (Congosonic) organized by the William Grant Stills Art Center and the city of Los Angeles.
Congosonic takes you on a journey beyond colonial borders into the heart of Congolese music and its profound impact on what we play, listen to, and dance to.
The delegation will screen films concerning the Congo Basin Rainforest (exploring the role of Indigenous knowledge and wisdom in combating the climate crisis) and the challenges of mining communities (tying the accelerated quest for critical minerals that power the green and/or clean energy transition to cobalt diggers). In addition, the delegation will showcase a photo display of 27 photos taken by displaced women from the east of the Congo in the Bulengo displacement camp. The display will be complimented by a photo book that will be available for sale during the tour.