125/5

In 2023, the Royal Museum for Central Africa (AfricaMuseum) is turning 125 years old. The museum also reopened its doors 5 years ago after a renovation. For this occasion, many events took place. The museum concludes the 125/5 year programme  with the opening of Afropea, a Gallery that maps the African presence (from Sub-Saharan) in Belgium.

Afropea shows the place and role of Africans from sub-Saharan Africa and persons s of African descent in Belgium since the 16th century. Its name is a tribute to the album Adventures in Afropea 1 by the Belgian-Congolese group Zap Mama.

The Gallery opens to the public on Sunday, December 17, with works by the following artists: Aimé Ntakiyica, John K Cobra, Moke, Henri Logelain, Pierre Muanza and The (in)convenience Store, installation by Rachel Hansoul.

Two guides will be present in the Gallery to inform visitors about the flow and content of Afropea.

Only in Dutch or French

Teddy Mazina questions colonial photographic representations of Africa, Africans and non-Europeans, such as the depiction of absolute differences, of radical otherness, of incomplete beings, of bodies without subjects, of ‘impossible subjectifications’. Beings who are necessarily deprived of something, and repeatedly so in labels: NAMES.

MY NAME IS NO-BODY is a video projection of a selection of labels and images from the AfricaMuseum’s colonial photo library. Scientists from the museum present the history and motivations behind colonial photo missions, the fascination with certain subjects and population groups, and the reasons for the recurring and often total absence of the names of those photographed.

Warning
The museum is aware that the images and words used in this exhibition may be shocking or offensive. 

Their choice forms part of the approach by artist Teddy Mazina and his work on the deconstruction of stereotypes found in the discourse of the colonial-era photo archive. 

These images and words in no way represent the current perspective of the AfricaMuseum. 

Your reactions: teddy.mazina@gmail.com

Only in French. 

Only in Dutch or French

Did you know that the AfricaMuseum is 125 years old and was revamped 5 years ago?  Plenty of reason to come and visit with your family in the summer holidays. While you're here, you can look for the colourful sensory boxes hidden in the museum rooms. In them, you'll find all kinds of fun assignments. How about making a spider's web without looking? Picturing your own proverb on a Congolese pot lid? Or listening to Burundian wedding music? 

And if that wasn't enough, you'll discover Vlieg’s treasure and get a present! 

So get your hands ready and feel! 

As part of its programming 125/5 years, the AfricaMuseum, in collaboration with Cinematek and the Afrika Film Festival, is organising an evening around Noemie Arazi and Georges Senga's documentary Kasongo (Im)Matériel.

After the screening, Nadia Nsayi (in charge of cultural programming at the AfricaMuseum) will moderate an after-dinner discussion between Noemie Arazi (archaeologist and researcher at the AfricaMuseum), Moussa Don Pandzou (co-author of the book 'Yaya na leki') and the audience.

Kasongo (Im)Material

Kasongo (Im)Material (2021) explores the forgotten history of people of Arab-Swahili descent in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Their trajectory from oppressor to oppressed and the local takeover of their culture and language reflect the tensions and ambivalence of history and heritage. Combining images from excavations with archival material and contemporary footage, an archaeologist and a photographer evoke the emotional impact of what persists from the past into the present.

Trailer: https://vimeo.com/513369909

Kasongo (Im)Material was an official selection at the following festivals: Kinshasa International Film Festival (2021, DRC), Belgrade International Ethnological Film Festival (2021, Serbia), Cotonou International Digital Film Festival (2021, Benin), Sharjah Film Platform (2021, United Arab Emirates), Saint-Louis Docs - Festival International du Film Documentaire de Saint-Louis (2021, Senegal), Luxor African Film Festival (2022, Egypt), Afrika Film Festival Leuven (2022, Belgium), New York African Film Festival (2022, USA), Zanzibar International Film Festival (2022, Tanzania) and Congo in Harlem Festival (2022, USA).

Read about the event in Dutch or French.