Curatorial Process, restitution, reorganisation, King Leopard II, Congo Free State, Leopold's authority, human rights advocates, Belgian parliament, historical injustices, The Memory of Congo, prevailing colonial narratives, Royal Museum for Central Africa's decolonization, plan for progress, power dynamics, Tervuren Royal Museum for Central Africa
Decolonizing museums and colonialism have been major subjects of conversation, and the Royal Museum for Central Africa, commonly known as AfricaMuseum in Tervuren, Belgium, has been at the centre of both. The museum was created in 1898 with the intention of presenting the history, culture, and arts of Central Africa, especially in the Congo. But as time went on, criticism of the museum's naive portrayal of Belgium's colonial past and its failure to acknowledge the atrocities and exploitative practices connected with it gained traction.
[...] The museum's displays have been reframed to question the prevailing colonial narratives. The new strategy aimed to acknowledge the crimes done during colonization, include African voices and perspectives, and encourage critical reflection on Belgium's colonial past. The idea of "reorganization" was then used to challenge the conflict of the museum as "the permanent collection was 'reorganized' by theme, sometimes using traditional exhibition techniques to reuse the space of the original museum, and sometimes deploying contemporary forms such as video, sound supports, and pedagogical film" (Ribeiro, 2018). [...]
[...] 2018-2020. Wood x 100 cm. Royal Museum for Central Africa, Tervuren, Belgium. (AfricaMuseum). Figure Paul Wissaert, Leopard Man Polychromed plaster, life-size. Royal Museum for Central Africa, Tervuren, Belgium. (DeBlock) Figure Chéri Samba, Réorganisation Oil on canvas x 134 cm. Royal Museum for Central Africa, Tervuren, Belgium. (DeBlock). [...]
[...] Efforts to Decolonize: The Royal Museum for Central Africa TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES ii Introduction 1 King Leopard II 1 Reorganisation 2 Restitution 5 Curatorial Process 7 Conclusion 8 APPENDIX 9 BIBLIOGRAPHY 13 LIST OF FIGURES Figure Arthur Dupagne, The Worker. 1935-1950. Bronze, life-size. Royal Museum for Central Africa, Tervuren, Belgium. (ZedesArtGallery) Figure Arsène Matton, Belgium bringing well-being to the Congo Bronze, lifesize. Royal Museum for Central Africa, Tervuren, Belgium. (AfricaMuseum) Figure Aimé Mpane, New Breath & Lusinga's Skull. 2018-2020. Wood x 100 cm. [...]
[...] He is best remembered for founding and advancing the Congo Free State in Central Africa. Leopold is a divisive historical figure because of the harsh and exploitative criticism he received for his actions in the Congo (Silverman, 2015:616). Leopold II was hailed as a hero and claimed to be the sole owner of the Congo Free State, but his true driving forces were the desire for money and power as "he reaped an enormous fortune by turning the Congolese into slave laborers to gather wild rubber" (Kakissis, 2018). [...]
[...] The decolonization of such disputed resources can now be aided by provenance research, which is a crucial instrument. Such study traces the origins and methods of acquisition of an artifact, and it also mandates transparency about these facts in any accompanying text, film, or video, "in the Africa Museum in Tervuren, some curators and researchers are doing excellent provenance research, which suggests that the museum is critical of its own position" (DeBlock, 2019:278). Curatorial Process The new director Guido Gryseels has stepped out to make changes and this starts within the museum. [...]
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