Djofray Makumbu
Djofray Makumbu is a British Congolese artist born and based in East London. His work draws on his own personal experiences and those of the people close to him, and he often collaborates with friends and family.
Recent projects have focused on the shame and stigma of mental health difficulties and disability, the pressures and violence of inner-city life from the perspective of young people and the joy of music and dancing.
Djofray works predominantly in moving-image, bringing together different techniques combining stop-motion animation, video footage and hand drawn/painted elements which are sometimes presented alongside live performances or dance. Each element of the work is carefully self-made, from hand built sets and hand stitched garments for Claymation characters, to soundtracks that are developed closely with Djofray’s brother
Djofray graduated from the BA Fine Art programme at Goldsmiths in 2018 and was awarded the Alumno/SPACE Studio Bursary as a result of his degree show exhibition. In 2020, Djofray won a Goldsmiths Exhibitions Hub commission, in partnership with the London Community Video Archive, to make Hello Mr Officer, a moving image work that sees young Black men from across London share their experiences of being harassed by the police.
The work uses stop-motion, watercolour and rotoscope alongside archive material from The People’s Account (1987) by Ceddo Film Collective held in the LCVA archive. The work was exhibited at South London Gallery in 2021. In 2021, Djofray was awarded the LOEWE FOUNDATION / Studio Voltaire award and also undertook a Guest Projects digital residency with the Yinka Shonibare Foundation.
