Lecture

MuseumTalks

In 2003, mineworkers of the Gécamines (former Union Minière du Haut-Katanga (UMHK)), a mining company in Lubumbashi (DR Congo), lost their job after a deal between the Congolese government and the World Bank to liberalise the mining sector.

This talk focuses on a research project among and with the Collectif des ex-agents de la Gécamines (“Départs Volontaires”), these ex-workers of the Union Minière du Haut-Katanga/Gécamines in Lubumbashi (DR Congo).

Teddy Mazina & Roméo Mivekannin

Moderator: Ayoko Mensah

From 9 November 2021 to 6 March 2022, the AfricaMuseum presents the exhibition Human Zoo. The age of colonial exhibitions. Two artists have made important contributions to the exhibition. On Wednesday 16 February 2022 at 7.30 pm Ayoko Mensah, artistic programmer at the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels, will talk with Teddy Mazina and Roméo Mivekannin.

With Bruno-Victor Pujebet, Abd Al Malik & Monique Mbeka Phoba

Moderator: Gia Abrassart

On the occasion of the exhibition Human zoo. The age of colonial exhibitions the AfricaMuseum organises on Saturday 5 March at 3 pm the screening of the film Sauvages. Au coeur des zoos humains (2018), directed by Pascal Blanchard and Bruno-Victor Pujebet and narrated by Abd Al Malik. 

After the screening, journalist Gia Abrassart (Café Congo) will talk to co-director Bruno-Victor Pujebet, artist Abd Al Malik and filmmaker Monique Mbeka Phoba.

For more than a century, from 1810 to 1940, people exhibited other people by presenting them as savages or monsters in real human zoos. More than one and a half billion visitors discovered thirty-five thousand exhibits around the world. History had forgotten their names. They are called Petite Capeline, a Fuegian from Patagonia (Chile), Tambo, an Australian aborigine, Moliko, a Kalina from Guyana, Ota Benga from Congo, Jean Thiam, a Wolof from Senegal, Marius Kaloïe, a Kanak from New Caledonia... Sauvages, au coeur des zoos humains retraces the destinies of six of them with the help of the greatest international specialists, based on exceptional archives and images, and by collecting the unpublished testimonies of their descendants.

Lise Koning, Stella Nyanchama Okemwa & Stijn Coninx

Moderator: Anouk Torbeyns

MuseumTalks

Bhely Angoboy Ilondea

A relic of the Mayombe forest, the Luki Biosphere Reserve is home to an important natural heritage. Since 1937, experiments have been carried out on tropical forestry, forest management, forest ecology, climatology, monitoring of tree growth and phenology, the behaviour of tree species and the enrichment of savannahs with forest species. Most of these experiments are still visible in the field and have acquired great scientific value because they have lasted for a long time. They are currently used as a reference for studies on the forests of the Congo Basin in the context of climate change. 

Aspha Bijnaar & Jana Kerremans

From 9 November 2021 to 6 March 2022, the AfricaMuseum presents the exhibition Human Zoo. The age of colonial exhibitions. The exhibition is an opportunity for the museum and FARO, the Flemish support centre for cultural heritage, to have a conversation about how to deal with a painful past. Why is it important to pay attention to colonial history? How can historical knowledge reach a new and young audience?

On Wednesday 24 November at 7.30 p.m., culture and heritage expert Jana Kerremans will talk to the Surinamese-Dutch sociologist Aspha Bijnaar. Since 2006 she is founder and director of EducatieStudio, specialised in making colonial history accessible. Since 2021, Dr. Bijnaar has also been the director of the foundation Musea Bekennen Kleur. This organisation investigates which steps museums can take to promote diversity and inclusion in the museum world.

Mireille-Tsheusi Robert, Delphine Peiretti-Courtis & Sylvie Chalaye

Moderator: Marie-Reine Iyumva

The exhibition Human zoo. The age of colonial exhibitions also presents images of black men, women, and children. Three speakers take a critical look at the representation of black bodies in human zoos. Has the colonial view of black people become outdated, or does it persist to this day? Can historical images be used as a teaching tool in fighting racist stereotypes?

Marie-Reine Iyumva (AfricaMuseum) will moderate a debate with educator Mireille-Tsheusi Robert (Bamko asbl), historian Delphine Peiretti-Courtis (Université d’Aix Marseille), and anthropologist Sylvie Chalaye (Université de la Sorbonne).

Guido Gryseels, Pascal Blanchard, Maarten Couttenier, Mathieu Zana Etambala, Teddy Mazina, Salomé Ysebaert & Marie-Reine Iyumva

Moderator: Katrien Vanderschoot

Sixty years ago, on 13 October 1961, Prince Louis Rwagasore, who had just been elected Prime Minister of Burundi, was assassinated while dining in a restaurant. At the time, Burundi was a territory under Belgian rule. In his book Meurtre au Burundi, Ludo De Witte examines this assassination and the role played by the Belgian administration in Burundi, the Belgian government and King Baudouin.

MuseumTalks

Provenance research is one of the museum's priorities. Its aim is to study the circumstances in which the collections were acquired, mainly during the colonial period.

In the framework of a scientific residency, Prof. Placide Mumbembele Sanger (University of Kinshasa) is studying the provenance of Yaka masks kept in the AfricaMuseum.