Genocide in the Congo: The Role of the Belgian Africa Museum in Interpreting Memories of Colonial Atrocity
Location
Littlefoot B Room 124B
Start Date
21-4-2023 10:30 AM
End Date
21-4-2023 11:45 AM
Publication Date
2023
Disciplines
Arts and Humanities | Law | Social and Behavioral Sciences
Description
The Tervuren AfricaMuseum, previously Museé Royale de l’Afrique Centrale, self-reports as having the richest collection of African cultural artifacts in the world despite being located in Europe. Given the museum’s historical association with the violent reign of King Leopold II in Congo, this claim immediately raises concern regarding the provenance of the museum’s collections. Created by and for King Leopold II in the late 19th century, the AfricaMuseum continues to stand as a testament to and memorial of the Belgian state’s colonial legacy today. The museum, relatively unchanged since the beginning of the 20th century, closed its doors in 2013 to undergo a five-year decolonizing renovation which aimed to repair the museums relationship to Belgian memory and international morality. The paper I propose here is a select summary of research conducted on this topic as part of my thesis completed in May 2022. This project contextualized the 2013 renovation of the Tervuren AfricaMuseum against the museum’s history as an organization to offer a commentary on the role of public institutions in mediating memory.
The deconstruction of colonial sentiment across European institutions is an increasingly important movement across multiple fields of study and reflects contemporary public reckoning with historical atrocity. Today, the AfricaMuseum’s origins and ongoing connection to the Belgian monarchy dictate its ability to facilitate meaningful dialogue. The most recent renovation sought to emphasize the cultural vibrance and survivance of contemporary African cultures to counteract past erasure. However, in doing so, the museum has moved further away from a confrontation of the institution’s own role in Congo’s colonial past which itself was a critical tool of empire. By comparing the museum’s most recent remodel to its predecessors in 1897, 1910 and 1950, I have found the AfricaMuseum to still be lacking in contextual awareness. Ultimately, the inherently colonial space occupied by institutions like the AfricaMuseum continue to dominate the commemorative recognition of colonial atrocity and undermine national efforts to effectively diversify understandings of colonial history.
Description Format
html
Recommended Citation
Canion-Brewer, Kyley, "Genocide in the Congo: The Role of the Belgian Africa Museum in Interpreting Memories of Colonial Atrocity" (2023). International Conference on Hate Studies. 16.
https://repository.gonzaga.edu/icohs/2023/seventh/16
Full Text of Presentation
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Media Format
flash_audio
Session Title
Genocide Denial in Memes, Online, or in Museums and Denialism in the Law
Type
Panel
Genocide in the Congo: The Role of the Belgian Africa Museum in Interpreting Memories of Colonial Atrocity
Littlefoot B Room 124B
The Tervuren AfricaMuseum, previously Museé Royale de l’Afrique Centrale, self-reports as having the richest collection of African cultural artifacts in the world despite being located in Europe. Given the museum’s historical association with the violent reign of King Leopold II in Congo, this claim immediately raises concern regarding the provenance of the museum’s collections. Created by and for King Leopold II in the late 19th century, the AfricaMuseum continues to stand as a testament to and memorial of the Belgian state’s colonial legacy today. The museum, relatively unchanged since the beginning of the 20th century, closed its doors in 2013 to undergo a five-year decolonizing renovation which aimed to repair the museums relationship to Belgian memory and international morality. The paper I propose here is a select summary of research conducted on this topic as part of my thesis completed in May 2022. This project contextualized the 2013 renovation of the Tervuren AfricaMuseum against the museum’s history as an organization to offer a commentary on the role of public institutions in mediating memory.
The deconstruction of colonial sentiment across European institutions is an increasingly important movement across multiple fields of study and reflects contemporary public reckoning with historical atrocity. Today, the AfricaMuseum’s origins and ongoing connection to the Belgian monarchy dictate its ability to facilitate meaningful dialogue. The most recent renovation sought to emphasize the cultural vibrance and survivance of contemporary African cultures to counteract past erasure. However, in doing so, the museum has moved further away from a confrontation of the institution’s own role in Congo’s colonial past which itself was a critical tool of empire. By comparing the museum’s most recent remodel to its predecessors in 1897, 1910 and 1950, I have found the AfricaMuseum to still be lacking in contextual awareness. Ultimately, the inherently colonial space occupied by institutions like the AfricaMuseum continue to dominate the commemorative recognition of colonial atrocity and undermine national efforts to effectively diversify understandings of colonial history.