Those who try to control nature – either to protect it, consume it, or both – stand at the centre of Frontier: Garamba National Park.

Garamba is an archetypical frontier: located in the far northeast of the Democratic Republic of Congo, on the border with South Sudan and Uganda, it is a place considered unruly and hard to control, where the state is only weakly present and different groups compete for influence. The National Park is a vital refuge for numerous wildlife species, such as the critically endangered Kordofan giraffe, pangolins, forest antelopes and the Congo elephant. Since the late nineteenth century, its wildlife has attracted a wide range of actors: slave traders, colonial authorities, customary chiefs, poachers, rebel groups, state officials and environmental NGOs. While many sought to profit from these animals, others worked to protect them.

Frontier: Garamba National Park reveals the many ways in which conservation and violence intersect. Nature itself emerges as an active protagonist, shaped by political and military dynamics. It combines photographs by visual artist Léonard Pongo (BE/CD) with essays and archival work by Kristof Titeca (BE) and Patrick Edmond (GB). Alongside Pongo’s photographs, it brings together archival material from colonial collections, former rebel groups and park managers, creating a layered account of the contested relationship between people, power and nature in one of Africa’s most complex protected landscapes.