Maßnahme

For generations, the knowledge, beliefs, stories, rituals and musical practices of the Maracha people have been transmitted primarily through oral tradition. As younger generations experience increasing social and cultural change, opportunities to encounter and engage with this inherited knowledge are becoming less frequent.

Through video and audio recordings of the Prime Minister of the Lugbara Kaari, cultural leaders, musical ensembles and sites of spiritual significance to the clan, Authentic Voices Africa brings together a body of material that documents and interprets this cultural inheritance.

Part historical record and part contemporary artistic response, Sounds of Maracha considers how knowledge carried through generations can be documented, experienced and reinterpreted without losing its connection to the people, places and practices from which it originates. 

The installation creates a space in which ancestral voices and contemporary perspectives meet, exploring how this cultural knowledge might continue to resonate with future generations.

Tiamvu being a word from the Lari language, translated here as “Bridges” — offers a glimpse into an ongoing artistic research process emerging from Laryssa Kim’s residency at the AfricaMuseum.

Through immersive listening, short live demonstrations and reflections on her creative process, Laryssa invites the audience to discover how archival recordings from the museum and sounds she recorded from instruments in its collection can enter into dialogue with electroacoustic composition, voice and electronics.

Moving between original sound materials and their transformations, the session opens a space for listening and exchange. Along the way, she reflects on the distance between archival sounds and their original contexts, and on how questions of language, memory, transmission and her own position in relation to these precious materials become part of her creative process.

The research developed during the AfriMus residency will feed into Laryssa Kim’s next album and new live-electronic performance.

The presentation takes place in a four-channel listening environment and concludes with a short work-in-progress sonic performance. The working language of this event is English.

Still the Rhythm brings together two bodies of work: A Cycle Game (2024–2025) and Expressies door het ondergrondse heen (2021-2023). Together, they trace a trajectory of introspection, encounter, and connection. Under the title Still the Rhythm, the works form a single continuous narrative in which rhythm stands for repetition, memory, transformation, and continuity.
 

A Cycle Game comprises three brightly coloured plaster sculptures created following a research visit to the AfricaMuseum in 2024. The encounter with the collections and archives left a profound mark: sorrow and mistrust mingle with discovery and hope.The works reflect on how the colonial past continues to resonate today, and question how this legacy can be rethought and transformed.

The second part, Expressies door het ondergrondse heen (Expressions through Meditations), consists of ten bronze sculptures emerging from intuition and inner movement. The titles of the works as well as the accompanying poetry collection appear in Dutch, English, Lingala, and Swahili. This multilingualism reflects the layered world in which the artist moves, and the continual shaping of his multiple identities.

AFROPEA is a space for dialogue and encounter within the AfricaMuseum’s permanent display, developed in close cooperation with members of the African diaspora in Belgium. It combines a permanent presentation on Afro descendant communities in Belgium with an annually changing installation by a maker, thinker, or artist. The permanent display tells the story of people of African origin from the sub-Saharan region and Afro descendant communities in Belgium since the sixteenth century - their presence, contributions, and role in society. The name of the gallery pays tribute to the album Adventures in Afropea 1 by the Belgian-Congolese group Zap Mama.

In this studio, you can see how the collections management team works on restoring and preserving objects from all over the world. Do you have any questions about restoration, conservation or how we protect our collections for the future? In the CollectionsLAB, you can ask our researchers and conservators directly. Come and have a look, discover, and be amazed by the scientific work behind the museum!