Wender·Vista
Lubumbashi
shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileDemocratic Republic of the Congo
in the Katanga uplands of southern DRC

Lubumbashi

— — the city the copper built.

— Where it lives

Not only on a wall.

A small tile on the nightstand catching the morning. A larger one above the fire. Yours, wherever you spend the slow hours.
— On the nightstand, a 6-inch on a walnut stand
— Among the books, a 6-inch leaning into the spines
— Beside the kettle, a 12-inch propped
— Down a quiet hall, an 18-inch floating off the wall
— Above the fire, the 24-inch in a walnut surround
— a note from the studio

“The second city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the high plateau of Haut-Katanga close to the Zambian border. Founded in 1910 as Élisabethville on the copper that runs through the region's red earth, the city still measures its year by the mining cycle. Wide colonial avenues and jacarandas above the Lubumbashi river give the centre its shape.

from the studio
Lubumbashi
— bring it home

Lubumbashi, on ceramic.

Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.

What kind of piece?
One tile — square or rectangle.
How big?
the popular one — counter, shelf, nightstand
6 × 6 in · 15 cm · 1.6 lb
Surface finish
A clear glossy finish — the artwork reads as if under resin. Ideal for show-pieces and framed wall art.
How it sits
A hidden cleat — sits ¼″ proud of the wall.
$58
Hand-finished and shipped from our studio at the foot of the Smokies. On your wall in about ten days.
— size
6 × 6 in
15 cm
— weighs
1.6 lb
solid in the hand
— surface
ceramic, hand-finished
art rests beneath a thin glossy finish
— from
Knoxville, TN
our family studio, at the foot of the Smokies
— start a Coaster Set

Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.

— about Lubumbashi

The place, in three passes.

A little of what's known, in case you fall down the rabbit hole — or want to go see it yourself.
— the place

Lubumbashi sits at about 1,200 metres on the Katangan plateau in the south of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, roughly 30 kilometres from the Zambian border at Kasumbalesa. With more than two million residents, it is the country's second-largest city and the capital of Haut-Katanga Province. The settlement was laid out in 1910 by the Belgian Union Minière du Haut-Katanga around the copper deposits at the edge of the Copperbelt, the mineral arc that runs through southern Congo and northern Zambia. It was called Élisabethville until 1966.

— informed by Wikipedia
— the stone

The colonial-era centre retains a grid of broad avenues laid out by Union Minière engineers and lined with flame trees and jacarandas. The Cathédrale Saints-Pierre-et-Paul, built in the 1920s in red brick, anchors the central avenue; the Gécamines headquarters, the smelter chimneys at the edge of town, and the old railway station from the Chemin de fer du Katanga survive from the same era. The University of Lubumbashi, founded in 1956 as the Université Officielle du Congo Belge, holds the city's academic life.

— the year

The city has a single dry season from May through September and a long rainy season the rest of the year. June and July are coolest, with nights dropping below ten degrees Celsius on the plateau; October before the rains is the hottest stretch. The jacarandas flower violet in September and early October; the flame trees follow in November. The mining calendar — copper and cobalt shipments out by rail to Lobito and Durban — runs steadily through both seasons.

— where
Democratic Republic of the Congo · Haut-Katanga Province
— elevation
1,208 m · 3,963 ft
— position
-11.6878° S · 27.5026° E
— the neighborhood

What's nearby.

A handful of named places within an hour's walk or short drive. Some we've already painted; some we will.
30 km SW
Kipushi
mining town
95 km S
Kasumbalesa
border crossing
120 km NW
Likasi
mining city
150 km NE
Kundelungu National Park
national park
N
Lubumbashi
Kipushi
Kasumbalesa
Likasi
Kundelungu National Park
— common questions

What people ask.

A few questions we get about Lubumbashi — and about bringing the piece home.
— about the place

In the south of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, in Haut-Katanga Province, about 1,200 metres above sea level on the Katangan plateau. The Zambian border at Kasumbalesa is roughly 30 kilometres south.

It is the country's mining capital and second-largest city, sitting on the northern arc of the Central African Copperbelt. Most Congolese copper and cobalt exports originate in or near the city.

The Belgian Union Minière laid out the settlement in 1910 as Élisabethville, named for Queen Elisabeth of Belgium. It was renamed Lubumbashi after the river that runs through it in 1966.

French is the official language and the language of administration. Swahili in its Katangan form is the lingua franca of daily life. English is increasingly heard in mining-sector workplaces.

A subtropical highland climate with a single dry season from May to September and rains the rest of the year. Cool nights in June and July; jacarandas flower violet in September.

— about the piece in your home

It has been a meaningful gift for Congolese families abroad. A Keepsake or Small with a handwritten note from the studio travels well by mail and carries the colour of the plateau into a kitchen or a desk.

The red-earth and jacaranda palette suits Afro-modern interiors, warm Maximalist living rooms, and rooms built around terracotta or burnt-orange walls. It is less suited to cool Coastal-modern or strict Minimalist schemes.

Yes. Afro-modern design is one of the strongest current movements in residential interiors, pairing saturated colour with handworked surfaces. A Medium reads as a focal point; a four-tile Mural becomes the wall's anchor.

A Large covers a standard console. Above a sofa, a four-tile Mural is the common choice; a nine-tile Mural anchors a longer wall. A Medium suits a desk or entry niche.

Yes, in Dura Satin or Matte. Both finishes resist scratching and tolerate steam and splash. The Glossy finish is best kept to dry rooms where the colour can catch the light.

A soft microfibre cloth and water. No abrasive sponges, no household cleaners. The colour lives in the ceramic surface and cleans the way a plate does.

Yes. Every WenderVista piece is made in our family studio in Knoxville, Tennessee. Reid Wender chooses every place that enters the atlas; no licensing, no third parties.

— if this one stayed with you

A few you might also love.

Hand-picked by the eye that found Sorapis. Same air, same kind of quiet.