Amplifying female voices for environmental consciousness in Kinshasa

Plastic waste swamps the Democratic Republic of Congo, penetrating the soil and rivers and leaving them clogged up. The consequences, including pollution, flooding, and erosion, prevent the women living in rural regions from working and improving the living conditions of their families and communities. This waste becomes an obstacle to their true independence as females in a patriarchal society that underestimates their ability to participate in land governance or international institutions that support women. The project Impact Zone focuses on the collaboration between artists and the local community, especially rural women who work in agriculture, livestock, sales, and in the home, women who have intimate experience or knowledge of their ecosystem. By speaking to these women and interviewing them about their relationship with the environment, the collective of female artists behind the project creates a series of works in the form of texts, photos, videos and performances that serve to question and raise awareness of the dangers that human actions pose to the environment in DR Congo, awakening the conscience of the community.