#africamuseum

CIONET’s Annual Event: What’s Next 2020

Het is altijd een plezier om de mensen van CIONET weer te zien. 

Ze begrijpen mijn manier van werken, geven me absolute vrijheid en vertrouwen blindelings op mijn kunde om een origineel beeldverslag af te leveren.

okay so introduction: I went to the AfricaMuseum in Tervuren, which was closed between 2013 and 2018 for renovation. In 2013 it romanticized colonisation a lot (I mean, it was a project of Leopold II), a main goal of the renovation was to abolish that. When it opened again in 2018 there was still a lot of criticism: people thought it was still too colonial. I am not in the slightest the best person to judge the new museum because I am not very educated on the subject but I do have some remarks.

I went with a group of friends and we had a guide. When we started, we went downstairs to the cellars and after some explanation, she took us to see a group of statues. They were very obviously racist, stereotypical and imperialist. The guide said that for this reason, they weren’t displayed in the museum. Which took me by surprised because let’s be real, they were displayed in the museum. The explanatory sign was rather short and I wouldn’t say it was enough for context. Which brings me to my next criticism: there were a lot of great general signs, but those for individual objects or groups of objects were rather short. The descriptions of objects also mentioned the ethnic groups that created the objects, but apart from that nothing was explained about them. They weren’t shown on a map, there was barely any mention of how they differ or resemble. What I did like is that the museum doesn’t only focus on history, but also on geology or biology. It’s also become very interactive: screens with more pictures, videos... I also liked the diversity of the displayed objects. 

Last remark: a lot of the objects that are in the possession of the museum were stolen and should obviously be given back. Discussions are going on within the museums on this subject apparently, but it is in se not difficult. Theft is a punishable crime and we know those responsible weren’t and will never be punished. The least we can do is give back what isn’t ours. 

AfricaMuseum@BOZAR

Contes africains – Afrikaanse verhalen

15/2/2015

 Pour le plaisir des petits et des grands, Apollinaire et Kristien,

ont rassemblé les histoires d’Afrique qu’ils préfèrent…

Tot grote vreugde van klein én groot verzamelden Apollinaire en Kristien

hun favoriete Afrikaanse verhalen…

    AfricaMuseum@BOZAR

Contes africains – Afrikaanse verhalen

15/2/2015

Infos pratiques

BOZAR- STUDIO CONGO : Concerts Dimanche 12/10 et 14/12/2014 AfricaMuseum – www.belafrikamedia.be / WEBTV

Concerts  Dimanche 12/10 et 14/12/2014 AfricaMuseum:

Né d’une rencontre musicale fortuite, le groupe est composé de trois musiciens :

Lezin Mpoutou (Chant, Likembé), Hervé Badiel (Tama, Calebasse) et Olivier Stroobant (Chant, Kamalengoni).

Ce groupe revisite des mélodies traditionnelles du Mali, du Burkina Faso et du Congo-Brazzaville. Un moment intimiste où se mêlent fête et mélancolie.