Art Gallery
Port de Banana
Exhibit Dates: Friday, May 30, 2025 – Sunday, August 10, 2025
Port de Banana, an exhibition of work by Lio-Bravo Bumbakini, invites viewers to the small coastal seaport of Banana, at the mouth of the Congo River, the symbolic first point of contact between the western world and the Bantu Tribes inhabiting the region we know as the Democratic Republic of Congo today. This mixed media exhibition tells Banana’s history through a lucid dream-like metaphysical lens steeped in abstractions and surrealism.
Bumbakini mixes vibrant colors, symbols and archetypes with tribal and traditional African motifs and contemporary Western ideas. This exhibition explores the narratives of life before and after the “discovery” of Congo from an anthropological and folkloric perspective. The artist envisions the modern experience in swaths of folkloric imagery inspired by his Congolese heritage, Belgian upbringing, and the two decades he’s spent across the USA in diaspora.
Exhibit Events
Opening Celebration: Thursday, May 29, 2025 at 5:30 p.m.
Come to the Littleton Museum on Thursday, May 29, 2025 at the Littleton Museum at 5:30 p.m. for the Opening Celebration for Port de Banana.
No RSVP required. All ages welcome. Light refreshments provided. Ample parking available in lot.
The celebration includes:
- Introduction of exhibit by artist Lio-Bravo Bumbakini
- Spoken word/poem recital by award-winning scholar and poet Toluwanimi Obiwole
Toluwanimi Obiwole is a Nigerian multidisciplinary artist who explores her art through poetry, visual art, curation, and textile production. She is a seasoned storyteller, poet, and visual artist with a dedication to re-indigenization, intergenerational healing and cultural memory keeping. She was the former Youth Poet Laureate for the State of Colorado and has received awards for DEI storytelling from the University of Colorado Boulder. She is a two-time TEDx speaker, has published a book of poems with Penmanship Books in New York City and has been published in Haymarket Books' most recent iteration of The Breakbeat Poets. Her practice as a storyteller has opened the door for her to introduce poetic storytelling methods to people who otherwise would not engage with poetry.
- Live set by Congolese trio Manasse Kaoma and Friends
Born in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, emerging guitarist Manasse Kaoma has captivated audiences with his soulful, eclectic, sound. He began his musical journey in a Kinshasa-based band but later moved to South Africa to study at the Cape Music Institute and the London College of Music where he graduated. In 2021, Manasse joined the music group 29:11, which led to his first U.S. tour in 2023. To date, Manasse has collaborated with notable artists like Grammy nominee Zahara, Temba Fassie, Nigerian gospel singer Sinach, American artist Dessa, and French guitarist Marcel Boungou. His performance highlights include the Sinach concert, Jazzathon Festival, and Kinshasa Jazz Festival. Excitingly, he plans to release his debut album in 2025/2026, marking his first project as a solo artist.
Artist Talk: Thursday, June 5, 2025 at 5:30 p.m.
Doors open at 5:30 p.m., talk begins at 6 p.m.
Ample parking available in lot.
No Longer, Not Yet
Exhibit Dates: Friday, September 12, 2025 – Sunday, January 11, 2026
No Longer, Not Yet is a collection of layered encaustic works by Anne Feller examining moments of being caught in an intermediate state of existence. The exhibition is divided into three central themes reflective of its name.
No Longer is representative of the past: something that has happened, but is only remembered. The memories in these pieces are captured somewhere between the experienced and the forgotten.
Not Yet represents what is to come: something that has not yet unfolded but is anticipated. Each piece tackles an emotional relationship to a future of uncertainty.
The comma in-between No Longer and Not Yet represents a silent pause between two points. Reflective of a comma, these pieces are neither here nor there; they are markers of a moment in a temporary and transitory state.
All together, No Longer, Not Yet bears witness to the quiet passage of time and what unfolds in the moments of the in-between.
The exhibition is on display at the Littleton Museum from Friday, September 12, 2025 – Sunday, January 11, 2026.
About the Artist:
Anne Feller is a figurative encaustic artist who works with themes of memory. She is based out of Boulder, Colorado where in 2021 she attained a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Colorado at Boulder. She is a 2021 recipient of the Emerging Artist Grant from International Encaustic Artists.
In July 2022, Feller opened her first solo exhibition The Tip of the Tongue at Artworks Center for Contemporary Art. She published her essay “Fossilization of Memories” in the Fall 2022 edition of Wax Fusion, a magazine featuring contemporary encaustic artists. Feller concluded the year as a selected artist in Athena Project’s Artful Reflections, a program that aims to uplift women artists through thoughtful discourse and community engagement. The following year in 2023, Feller was selected to exhibit her work internationally at Mulranny Arts for Ephemeral/Ephemera in Mulranny, Ireland. Later that year, Feller’s piece Till I See You Again won Best of Show at D’Art Gallery in downtown Denver for Spot On #4. Feller’s second solo exhibition, LIMINAL, opened at the Tointon Gallery in Greeley in May 2024.
Exhibit Events
Opening Reception: Thursday, September 11, 2025 at 5:30 p.m.
Join us on Thursday, September 11, 2025 at the Littleton Museum at 5:30 p.m. for the Opening Reception.
No RSVP required. All ages welcome. Light refreshments provided. Ample parking available in lot.