125/5

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. 

Cécile Djunga © Lillo Mendola

After a five-week creative residency in Burkina Faso in April 2023, Cécile Djunga will present her new show in Belgium.

A Belgian with Congolese roots, Djunga visited Africa for the first time at the age of 33. Culture shock guaranteed. All the twists and turns, surprises, and misunderstandings, from getting had at customs, being impervious to flirting, or laughing at the wrong time, are fodder for this well-paced, hilarious, good-natured and solid solo show! With her naiveté and her trademark energy, this journey to unfamiliar territory is a hymn to the encounter with the other – and with herself.

Author: Cécile Djunga
Director: Edoxi Lionnelle Gnoula

In 2023, the Royal Museum for Central Africa (AfricaMuseum) will be 125 years old.  It also reopened its doors 5 years ago after a renovation. It's a perfect time for the museum to explore its role in the past, present and future – with you!

The guided tour 'AfricaMuseum today' starts in the Grand Rotunda. It goes through several galleries, touching on Belgian colonial history in Central Africa (Congo, Rwanda, Burundi), Patrice Lumumba, the war in Eastern Congo, the African presence in Belgium and restitution. The guide will also reflect on the impact of colonization on society today, taking examples from current events.

After the tour, you can join an informal conversation in the presence of a museum staff member. What did you think of the tour? How do you feel? Do you still have questions?

Who are the guides?

François Makanga guides the tours in French. He is a guest speaker, artist and activist.

Paul Vossen guides the tours in Dutch. He studied bioengineering and Conflict & Development and has worked in Botswana, Burundi, Congo, Niger and the Sahel.

More information about the programme: in French or Dutch.

Salomé Ysebaert & Marie-Reine Iyumva, Expo Mensentuin, Africamuseum, 2021, © Nadia Nsayi

Only available in French or Dutch.