Permanent exhibition

The Memorial Gallery offers a survey of the diverse activities of Belgians in Africa during the reign of Leopold II (1865-1909). The present display dates from the nineteen-seventies and its depiction of historical events is rather selective.
The showcases and memorials commemorate the various ways in which Leopold II sought to acquire control of the Congo basin.

Here colonial history is regarded from a purely Belgian point of view. Thus, on the gallery’s walls, only the names of the Belgians who died on Congolese soil are commemorated. There is no reference to Congolese dead.

There are also paintings by Belgian artists who stayed in the overseas territories, some for a short while, others for much longer.

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