Wender·Vista
Virunga National Park
shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileDemocratic Republic of the Congo
in the eastern Congo, against the Rwandan border

Virunga National Park

— — a lava lake and a quiet family of gorillas.

— 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

“Africa's oldest national park, established in 1925 along the eastern edge of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Some 7,800 square kilometres of rainforest, savanna, and the active volcano Nyiragongo, whose summit holds one of the world's largest lava lakes. Mountain gorillas live in the forest above Bukima. The park's rangers have paid a high price to keep it standing.

from the studio
Virunga National Park
— bring it home

Virunga National Park, 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 Virunga National Park

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

Virunga National Park stretches some 7,800 square kilometres along the eastern edge of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, sharing borders with Rwanda and Uganda. Established in 1925 under Belgian colonial administration as Albert National Park, it is the oldest national park on the African continent and was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979. The terrain spans Albertine Rift forest, savanna in the central Rwindi sector, and the active Nyiragongo and Nyamuragira volcanoes in the south. Headquarters are at Rumangabo, in North Kivu province.

— the silence

The mountain-gorilla sector above Bukima is the quietest part of the park. Roughly a third of the world's surviving mountain gorillas live across the Virunga massif, divided among Virunga in the DRC, Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda, and Bwindi and Mgahinga in Uganda. The Congolese side is the wettest and least visited of the three. Habituated families are tracked daily by ranger teams who have known some of the individual gorillas for over a decade. Permitted visits last one hour.

— informed by Virunga Foundation
— the visit

The park has reopened sections to tourism in stages after long periods of conflict, and in recent seasons the Bukima gorilla treks and the Nyiragongo summit climb have both run on a permit system through the Virunga Foundation. The Nyiragongo hike is two days, with overnight cabins at the crater rim above the lava lake; gorilla treks depart at dawn from Bukima with armed ranger escort. All visitors transit through Goma. Conditions can change with the security situation.

— informed by Visit Virunga
— where
Democratic Republic of the Congo · North Kivu Province
— within
Virunga National Park
— 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 S
Goma
regional city
35 km S
Lake Kivu
rift-valley lake
25 km E
Volcanoes National Park
national park
N
Virunga National Park
Goma
Lake Kivu
Volcanoes National Park
— common questions

What people ask.

A few questions we get about Virunga National Park — and about bringing the piece home.
— about the place

1925, under Belgian colonial administration as Albert National Park. It is the oldest national park in Africa, and was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979. The park covers roughly 7,800 square kilometres.

The park is best known for mountain gorillas, of which roughly a third of the global population lives in the Virunga massif. It also holds eastern chimpanzees, okapi, forest elephants, and the highest concentration of hippos in Africa.

Yes. Nyiragongo holds one of the world's largest active lava lakes inside its summit crater. The most recent major eruption was in May 2021, which sent flows toward Goma and forced temporary evacuations.

The eastern DRC has been contested by armed groups for three decades. Park rangers have been killed in the line of duty in numbers that exceed any other protected area in the world.

The Virunga Foundation, in partnership with the Congolese ICCN, has managed the park under a public-private agreement since 2010. Emmanuel de Merode has served as director through much of that period.

— about the piece in your home

It carries that intent well. Virunga is one of the most contested and most defended landscapes on Earth, and a Medium or Large piece with a handwritten studio note reads as recognition, not souvenir.

The deep greens and lava-orange tones suit Mountain-modern, biophilic, and warm Maximalist rooms. The piece reads well against rough plaster, dark walnut, and natural fibre.

A single Large covers most sofas. For a wider wall, a four-tile Mural opens the rainforest scale; a nine-tile Mural reads as a full feature wall.

Yes, in the Dura Satin or Matte finish. Both are scratch-resistant and built for vertical installation in steam-rich rooms, including showers and backsplashes. Cleaning is a soft cloth and water.

A soft microfibre cloth and water. The colour is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, beneath a thin glossy finish, so cleaning never lifts the image.

Yes. Every WenderVista piece is made in our Knoxville studio, in our own visual language, with no third-party licensing. Reid Wender curates the atlas and signs each piece off.

— if this one stayed with you

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