Palimpsest of the Africa Museum

In 2013, the Royal Museum for Central Africa closes for renovation. Not only the building and the museum cabinets are in need of renewal: the spirit of the museum has to be brought into this century. In COMRAF, a board of advisers, the process of decolonization leads to fierce discussions. While disassembling the metre-high statue of Leopold II, his ghost wanders through the corridors and halls of the museum. The renovation of the Museum for Central Africa is an opportunity to give a modern interpretation to the museum’s existence and mission. The stuffed wild animals, the traditional masks and the dusted artifacts are to make way for a more complete, modern view on Africa. The museum calls on the help of experts and initiates consultations with representatives of African organisations that have joined forces in a structure set up for this purpose, COMRAF. Exhibiting the minerals from the Congolese soil is no longer just a matter of scientific explanation. We must also consider the horrific conditions in which these raw materials were mined and the disruptive consequences for Congolese society. But in order to completely dislodge the majestic building from its colonial form, more fundamental questions also need to be asked. Who is looking at whom here? And whose story is being told here?

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