*£5 Concession tickets are available to Tate members, Tate Collective, and anyone who is in full-time education, unwaged, or over 60.
Nestled in Africa's largest rainforest lies one of the many graves of the West's efforts to control nations and nature - one of the world's largest tropical agricultural research centers. Located on the banks of the Congo River, the Yangambi INERA Research Station was a booming scientific center in its heyday. Today, it is an amalgam of jungle and ruin, where questions of knowledge, power over it, and access to it linger.
The Tree of Authenticity (2025). Photography courtesy of Twenty Nine Studio & Production.
The Tree of Authenticity recounts the stigma of ecological destruction that began at the time of colonisation through the voices of two emblematic scientists who worked at Yangambi between 1910 and 1950: Paul Panda Farnana and Abiron Beirnaert.
Their stories embody the legacies of colonial modernity and trace the origins of today's environmental injustice.
The artist Sammy Baloji (b. 1978, Lubumbashi, DR Congo) lives and works between Lubumbashi and Brussels. Since 2005 he has been exploring the memory and history of the Democratic Republic of Congo. His work is an ongoing investigation into the cultural, architectural and industrial heritage of the Katanga region, as well as questioning the impact of Belgian colonisation. His critical view of contemporary societies serves as a warning of the ways in which cultural clichés continue to shape collective memory, allowing social and political power games to continue to dictate human behaviour.
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You can also find information about FACT’s accessibility on our website here: fact.co.uk/visit/accessibility or use our Visual Story to prepare for your visit.
This event is part of FACT’s Community Cinema. If you’re an artist, independent filmmaker, charity, film club, or arts organisation, find out how FACT can support your film screening.
Community Cinema events do not include adverts before the screening. Doors open 30 minutes before the screening and the programme will start promptly at the listed time. Please arrive in plenty of time to help our team ensure everyone has a great experience.
This film screening is organised by Tate Liverpool, as part of the programme Congo-Liverpool Routes, developed with the International Slavery Museum.
Header image: The Tree of Authenticity (2025). Photography courtesy of Twenty Nine Studio & Production.
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