With President Joseph Kabila’s refusal to publicly rule out running for a third term, even though it is constitutionally forbidden, the government has taken to silencing dissent through threats, violence and arbitrary arrests in the lead up to the planned 2016 election. Musicians and activists are among those that have been caught in the crossfire of the crackdown.
In DRC's troubled east, a region that has been wracked by almost two decades of conflict, young Congolese creatives, dancers and musicians, are fearlessly speaking out through their art.
Photos by Natalie Keyssar, text and captions by Kate Lamb
Rebeka, 15, village of Sake, Eastern DRC. For youth in this rural area, educational and employment options are especially limited, while near by rebel groups and poverty pose a constant threat.
Actress and singer Nelly Seveyu at Maisha Sol recording studios in Goma. Maisha Sol is a popular recording destination for Goma's musicians, who's songs are riddled with references to overcoming the violence and injustice that has plagued the region.
Dancers rehearse a routine at Yole Africa.
An IndBatt solider, part of MONUSCO, patrols the outskirts of Goma. MONUSCO, or the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, has upwards of 20,000 soldiers in Eastern DRC at any given time. It's the UN's largest peace keeping mission in the world, and the only authorized to engage in combat.
Trees reflect in large puddles collected on a soccer field at an orphanage on the outskirts of Goma. The war torn region abounds with parentless children, who've lost their mothers and fathers to the seemingly endless cycle of conflict.
June 18, Goma, DR Congo. Gentil Mulume, 22, a student activist with LUCHA, poses for a portrait with another LUCHA activist, both were detained in recent protests.
Children swim in a lake in Sake, Eastern DRC.
On the road to Kibumba near the border with Rwanda, weapons can be seen on the roadside. Kibumba's proximity to the border makes it a hot bed for flareups between the two countries and Rwandan rebels, and civilians are often caught in the crossfire.
A woman and her daughter in a refugee camp outside Sake, Eastern DRC. In a region propped up by foreign aid and frequently destabilized by conflict, thousands live in refugee camps, dependent on food aid which doesn't always arrive.
Boxers practice in an empty stadium on a Sunday afternoon in Goma.
IndBatt MONUSCO soldiers prepare for a patrol outside Goma. The IndBatt battalion was present for the 2012 M23 rebel invasion of Goma, but without a mandate to engage in the fighting, they were largely inactive, and have incurred a very bad reputation among many Congolese as a result.
Children watch the road between Kibumba and Sake.
Father Pierro Gavioli from the Don Bosco orphanage. Father Pierro has worked at Don Bosco for more than 40 years. The home houses children in need from all walks of life in Eastern DRC, including many former child soldiers.
Father Pierro Gavioli from the Don Bosco orphanage. Father Pierro has worked at Don Bosco for more than 40 years.
Former child soldier, Matata Bizi Hategeka, at the Don Bosco orphanage. “You cannot fight if you don’t kill people,” he says, at Don Bosco Catholic orphanage in Goma, “We used to walk in blood everyday.”
Children practice a gospel song for an upcoming performance at the Maison des Jeunes in Goma.
A young gospel singer records a song at Maisha Sol studios in Goma.
Hip hop artist Jobson, left with black vest, jams with local hip hop artists at Yole Africa. "Yes, yes, tuka pamoja!" They chant, Swahili for "We are together."
At Maison des Jeunes, a young woman gets her hair braided while watching a basketball game.
Furniture vendors in downtown Goma.
Children swim in Lake Kivu. The lake is the center of activity for the region around Goma, where people wash, fish, and travel to many towns linked by the water.
An IndBatt solider, part of MONUSCO, patrols the outskirts of Goma. MONUSCO, or the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, has upwards of 20,000 soldiers in Eastern DRC at any given time. It's the UN's largest peace keeping mission in the world, and the only authorized to engage in combat.
Jalouis Karobanut, 45, in his fields in Kibumba. Since 1996 Jalouis has been forcibly displaced from his home nine times. The walls of his home are still riddled with bullet holes and a kilometer from his house, 38 of his relatives are buried in a mass grave. They were killed when Rwandan Tutsis who had crossed the border to seek retribution for the genocide attacked a nearby Hutu refugee camp.
The audience shields their faces from the sun at a Gospel concert in Goma, where singers often visit topics of peace in the context of the ongoing conflict in the region.
A young woman takes a workshop in mechanics at a youth center in Goma.
The grounds of Yole africa which features classes and workshops in dance, film and music among other things.
Vendors sell toy UN trucks at a stand in Goma.
A child at an orphanage on the outskirts of Goma.
Young dancers wash their sneakers at a water pump at Yole Africa.
A young man pushes his bicycle along Lake Kivu.
A former child soldier poses for a portrait at a mechanic's workshop in Goma.
Singers prepare to perform at a large Gospel concert in Goma.
Posters against the use of children in armed forces at a school in Goma.
Musicians at the Maisha Sol recording studio.
A child sleeps on a log in Kibumba, the site of relatively frequent skirmished due in part to its proximity to the Rwandan border.
A mechanics workshop hosts at risk youth and former child soldiers in Goma.
Young men on the road in Sake.
A woman promoting the Tigo mobile phone company at a Gospel concert in Goma.
The marketplace in Kibumba.
A young woman watches a Gospel concert in Goma.
On the road near Goma, DRC.