Camille-Pierre Bodo Pambu, 1953–2015

Pasteur Bodo Pambu was born in 1953 in Mandu, Democratic Republic of Congo. He lived and worked in Kinshasa.

Bodo Pambu was one of the founders and key proponents — along with Moke and Chéri Samba — of what has come to be known as the Zaïre school of popular painting. Their works expressed a vigorous belief in the power of art to influence society.

Camille-Pierre Bodo chose to paint anything and everything he had seen and experienced. His works became chronicles, pamphlets, manifestos, demands, or advice. One of his major themes was “Ndoki Zoba” (sorcery), and these paintings aimed to discourage the practice. In 1980, he converted to Christianity and joined the Pentecostal church, becoming a passionate pastor of “world evangelism.”

In the early 1990s, Bodo refined his style to better express his personal ideas and increase their impact. “My goals being: the improvement of life, and of visible things, and to share my dreams of a better world.”

He then turned to symbolic and fantastical subject matter, drawing on a vivid imagination fed by his dreams. “I express everything that happens to me, so that I am no longer focused on specifically African topics and can address myself to the entire world.” Titles such as *River of Delights*, *Ignorance*, and *Love, the Source of Life* reflect his beliefs and artistic aims.

Pierre Bodo passed away on March 5th, 2015.

source: Caacart