Heritier Bilaka
Heritier Bilaka is an Ottawa-based artist who draws inspiration from the political and social issues in his home country of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, as well as the human condition.
His career spans 14 years, including the past nine years in Canada. A graduate of the University of Ottawa and La Cité Collégiale in Ottawa, and Académie des Beaux-Arts Art in Kinshasa DRC, his worked has been shown all over North America, including Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Chelsea (Quebec), New Brunswick, Washington DC, as well as in London.
HIs pieces tend to be a dialogue between past and present, and we see some of that in his latest piece at Toronto’s Union Station. It’s about personal and cultural identity, once again drawing from his Congolese roots.
“Yeah, my inspiration comes from my identity, my cultural identity. I’m Bantu, from Congo GRC, and it’s about questioning a self-identity and community identity. So it’s pushing for a reflection of this thematic.” – Heritier Bilaka, interview with SHIFTER
