Conceived at the instigation of King Leopold II as a”palace of the colonies” in anticipation of the Brussels Universal Exhibition in 1897, The aim was to show the Belgians as many objects and goods as possible from his” IndependentState of the Congo”; even an African village had been set up with Congolese, but in conditions unsuitable for them, which cost the lives of seven of them.
The website https://www.africamuseum.be/en/ offers a comprehensive, up-to-date presentation of this tangible centre of the Belgo-African axis from a variety of angles.African axis from a variety of angles, from its conception by King Leopold II to its recent extensive renovation.
A few basic points of reference
Leopold II saw the museum as a propaganda tool for his colonial project to attract investors and win over the Belgian population. He earmarked funds from the royal private domain of the Congo for its construction and in 1898 the temporary exhibition became the first permanent museum in the Congo . From the outset , theinstitute has been a museum and a scientific institute.
Inaugurated by King Albert I in 1910, the Palais des Colonies was renamed the Royal Museum of the Belgian Congo in 1952.
At independence, its name was changed to the Royal Museum for Central Africa, offering a broader field of study. Even today, two-thirds of the AfricaMuseum ‘s staff and budget are devoted to scientific research.
The Royal Museum for Central Africa is world-renowned for its rich and varied collections of great scientific value. Most visitors are unaware of the importance of this heritage. permanent exhibition reveals just 1% of it .
The museum is renowned for its ethnographic objects, but it also houses collections in the natural sciences, archives, photographs, samples of the Congo ‘s subsoil, etc.
Where do the collections come from?
The vast majority of the objects come from DR Congo and were collected during the colonial period. However, the museum ‘s collections cover the whole world, dating back 650 million years (for some fossils) to the present day. For example, the museum holds ethnographic objects from Oceania and America, as a result of exchanges between the Royal Museum for Central Africa the Royal Museums of Art and History between 1967 and 1979.
The museum ‘s wood collection also contains samples from all over the world. It is the third largest collection in the world and the only reference collection in Belgium.
How did the collections come to Tervuren?
Since its creation in 1898, the museum has encouraged soldiers, civil servants, missionaries, merchants and scientists who were in the Congo to collect objects, animals and other items.
– Military campaigns: Some of the objects in the collections were collected during military campaigns organised in the Congo. The aim of these campaigns was to subjugate the population, demarcate borders and establish the authority of the colonising power. The objects collected were often weapons and other trophies obtained as spoils of war during violent confrontations.
– Collecting: The growing interest in the Congo gave rise to a veritable competition between European and American museums: each wanted to collect as many interestingobjects as possible, preferably before the competition took them over and colonisation wiped them out. Congolese artists and craftsmen saw this as an opportunity to make and sell objects that were highly prized by collectors.
– Scientific expeditions: right from the start, the museum has sent scientists to the Congo to collect objects and specimens. Even today, many collections, such as those of fish, wood, insects , etc., are continually being developed as part of scientific projects. are continually being developed in line with scientific projects.
– Missionaries: the first Belgian missionaries to the Congo rejected African religious practices and destroyed objects they considered “pagan”. Missionaries who had been in the colony for longer were often more understanding more understanding and interested in Congolese languages and cultures. Museum curators were happy to draw on their knowledge of languages and their contacts with the local population.
– Westerners in the Congo: the colonial authorities encouraged Westerners living and working working in the Congo to collect objects for the museum. For some items, there is a wealth of information available; for others, only the place of discovery and the name of the collector are known, but not the name of the craftsman or artist.
– The art trade : Following the colonial exhibition of 1897 in particular, African art dealers appeared in Brussels and Antwerp in the Antwerp in the 19th and especially 20th centuries. Today, private collections still contain many objects of African art. Some of these private collections joined the after the death of their collector.
– Purchases: the museum occasionally purchases objects and collections. The museum ‘s acquisitions committee carries out an integrity check and an examination based on five criteria: 1. Is the object of interest to scientific research? 2. Does it complement a collection or an exhibition? 3. Is it of exceptional value? 4. is it well documented? 5. does it illustrate aspects of Africa today?
– Donations: the museum acquired a large part of its collections through donations. Even today, pieces are offered to the museum and incorporated into its collections. The acquisitions committee applies the same criteria to donations as it does to purchases.
– collection today : nowadays, objects and specimens are collected as part of research research projects and field studies, in close collaboration with African universities and museums. The field of research is no longer limited to Central Africa , but covers the whole of Africa south of the Sahara. The objects and specimens are also better documented, even if they are still only fragments of a larger whole. Intangible cultural expressions, such as language and music, are receiving more attention today than in the past.
The international reputation of the Royal Museum for Central Africa is based on on its expertise in Central Africa and its unique and varied collections, in both the human and natural sciences.
The renovated museum: the Africamuseum
From December 2013 to September 2019, the museum is undergoing a major renovation: architecturalrestoration and transformation, modernisation of the way the collections are presented, expansion of the exhibition space accessible to the public from 6,000 to 11,000 m², and so on; all with a view to presenting
a contemporary, decolonised vision of Africa in a building designed as a colonial museum.
Aware that the history of the AfricaMuseum and its collections is shared by the Belgians and the peoples of Central Africa and their diaspora, the institution wanted to involve them in the development of the permanent exhibition; hence the introduction of contemporary art was an important part of the renovation process.
Most of the collections come from DR Congo, but there are also collections from other countries and even other continents. Today, collections are built up as part of research projects, in collaboration with museums and universities in Africa.
-Some collection figures:
10,000,000 zoological specimens
6,000,000 insects
1,000,000 fish
200,000 rock samples
170,000 photos of Rwanda, Burundi and DR Congo from the 19th and 20th centuries
650 films on DR Congo, Rwanda and Burundi between 1940 and 1960
120,000 ethnographic objects
80,000 wood samples
200,000 aerial photographs
20,000 geological maps
17,000 minerals
8,000 musical instruments
3 km of historical archives
As part of its modernization concept, the museum has included an ‘AfricaTube’ space and platform dedicated to contemporary digital Africa, created by young people, linking the AfricaMuseum with African cyberspace’. For just over a year, the ‘Tubers’ plunged into the digital spheres in search of blogs, audiovisual material, platforms and music from Africa and the African diasporas, and explored the very broad spectrum of the continent’s technological cultures. AfricaTube highlights what the Internet represents in Africa, questions Africa’s place in this digital world, and investigates its cultural implications.