Lecture

Subtitle
L’Église kimbanguiste fête son centenaire
Hour info
12.30 - 13.30
Language
In French
Available
On
Summary

MuseumTalks

Mathieu Zana Etambala

 

In 1921, Simon Kimbangu found his vocation and began to preach on the fate of the Lower Congo. He protested against colonisation and founded a religious movement that quickly gained thousands of followers. Arrested by the colonial administration, Kimbangu died in prison in Elisabethville (Lubumbashi) in 1951. Today, the Kimbanguist Church is a major religious movement and Nkamba, Kimbangu's birthplace, is considered the new Jerusalem.

On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the Kimbanguist Church, Mathieu Zana Etambala talks about the life of Simon Kimbangu and the impact of Kimbanguism today.

 

About the speaker

Until his retirement in 2020, Mathieu Zana Etambala was a historian at the Royal Museum for Central Africa and a professor at the KU Leuven, where he taught African and colonial history. He is a member of the group of experts assisting the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Since February 2021, he is professor of African history at Ghent University.

picture of simon kimbangu

Portrait of Simon Kimbangu. CP.2011.1.1, collection RMCA Tervuren All rights reserved

Place

Online.

Price

Free but registration is required.

Subtitle
A century of Congolese Art in Antwerp
Hour info
12.30 - 13.30
Language
In Dutch
Available
On
Summary

MuseumTalks

Els De Palmenaer & Nadia Nsayi

One hundred years ago, during the colonial era, Congolese art and utensils came into the possession of the city of Antwerp for the first time. These objects are now part of the collection of MAS | Museum aan de stroom.

Following this project, curator Els De Palmenaer and co-curator Nadia Nsayi will give an insight into the creation of this temporary exhibition, which focuses on 100 objects. What can the visitor expect? And how did the MAS collaborate for this project in Belgium and in Congo?

 

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About the speakers

  • Els De Palmenaer is curator of the African collection at the MAS. After specialising in art history and antiquities with a focus on Africa, she worked as a researcher in the ethnography section of the Royal Museum for Central Africa in the 1990s. In 2000, she moved to the Antwerp Ethnographic Museum, where she was appointed Africa curator. In 2009, the former Ethnographic Museum was integrated into the MAS, which opened to the public in 2011. She is curator of the temporary exhibition '100xCongo' and editor of the accompanying catalogue.
     
  • Nadia Nsayi is a Belgian-Congolese political scientist. She worked as a policy officer Congo at Broederlijk Delen and Pax Christi. Since 2019 she has been a curator of image at the MAS. In 2020 she released her book Dochter van de dekolonisatie.

Photo: Dries Luyten


The exhibition 100 x Congo can still be seen at the MAS in Antwerp until 12.09.2021.

> More info about the exhibition

Exhibit catalogue:

100 x Congo. Een eeuw Congolese kunst in Antwerpen

Order the book in Dutch or in French.

 

The AfricaMuseum has contributed to this temporary MAS exhibition by exceptionally lending two objects from its permanent display from October 2020 to March 2021, as well as co-financing the French translation of the Dutch accompanying book.

Place

Online

Price

Free, but registration is required.

Subtitle
A history in documents from the Henry Morton Stanley archives
Hour info
12.30 - 13.30
Language
In English
Available
On
Summary

MuseumTalks

Mathilde Leduc-Grimaldi

In this MuseumTalk, Mathilde Leduc-Grimaldi presents her and James L. Newman’s latest book Finding Dr. Livingstone. A History in Documents from the Henry Morton Stanley Archives.

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This eye-opening perspective on Stanley’s expedition reveals new details about the Victorian traveler and his African crew on the brink of the colonial Scramble for Africa.

In 1871, Welsh journalist Henry M. Stanley travelled to Zanzibar in search of the “missing” Scottish doctor and missionary David Livingstone. A year later, Stanley emerged to announce that he had “found” and met with Livingstone on Lake Tanganyika. His alleged utterance there, “Dr. Livingstone, I presume,” was one of the most famous phrases of the nineteenth century, and Stanley’s book, How I Found Livingstone, became an international bestseller.

In this volume Mathilde Leduc-Grimaldi and James L. Newman transcribed and annotated the entirety of Stanley’s documentation available in the Stanley Archives held in trust at the RMCA on behalf of the King Baudouin Foundation. For the first time in print, a broader narrative of Stanley’s journey is now accessible that includes never-before-seen primary source documents—worker contracts, vernacular plant names, maps, ruminations on life, correspondence, lines of poetry, bills of lading—all scribbled in his field notebooks.

Finding Dr. Livingstone is a crucial resource for those interested in exploration and colonization in the Victorian era, the scientific knowledge of the time, and the peoples and conditions of Tanzania prior to its colonization by Germany.

About the speaker

Mathilde Leduc-Grimaldi is curator of the Henry M. Stanley Archives and Collections at the Royal Museum for Central Africa. With Pr. James L. Newman, she edited Adventures of an American Traveller in Turkey, by Henry Morton Stanley. Her past exhibitions include Dr Livingstone, I presume? (2013). She is in charge of archives and history training programs for graduate students, archivists, and librarians from Central Africa.

 


MuseumTalks

Join us each month for an exciting talk about one particular aspect of the permanent exhibition! Take a look behind the scenes of the AfricaMuseum and discover the work of its scientists and its collaboration with African artists.

> All MuseumTalks

 

Place

Online

Hour info
12.30 - 13.30
Language
Film in French with English subtitles, discussion in French.
Available
On
Summary

MuseumTalks

The film Through the Eyes presents two musical practices from oral traditions: the Elombo ceremony in Gabon and the Carnaval de Binche in Belgium.

The film takes the same approach to these two rituals practiced on different continents. In doing so, it aims to address the question of the representation of culture through music, highlighting the differences and above all the similarities that exist between these two traditions.

The screening of the film Through the Eyes is followed by a discussion in the presence of the directors and members of the RIETMA project, the project within which the film was made.

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The film Through the Eyes is a product of the RIETMA projectRéseau international d’Étude des Tradition musicales africaines (International Network for the Study of African Musical Traditions). The aim of the project was to bring together the views of Africanologists and cultural professionals, Africans and Europeans, in order to compare musical representations from oral traditions. The objective was to propose a model of representation of traditions that is not only descriptive but also inclusive in order to prevent any form of exoticism or cultural reduction.

Members of the project :

  • Rémy Jadinon - Royal Museum for Central Africa, Tervuren (Belgium)
  • Arnold Aganze, Derek Debru - Nyege Nyege Festival, Jinja (Uganda)
  • Stéphane Colin, Matthieu Thonon, Saskia Willaert - Musical Instruments Museum, Brussels (Belgium)
  • Camille Devineau, Sylvie Le Bomin - Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, Paris (France)
  • Susanne Fürniss - CNRS - Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, Paris (France)
  • Eveline Koho Kabou - Musée de la Musique, Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso)
  • Larissa Nzang Metogo - Musée national du Gabon, Libreville (Gabon)

The RIETMA project is funded by the Belgian Science Policy.

 


MuseumTalks

Join us each month for an exciting talk about one particular aspect of the permanent exhibition! Take a look behind the scenes of the AfricaMuseum and discover the work of its scientists and its collaboration with African artists.

> All MuseumTalks

 

Place

Online

Price

Free but registration is compulsory.

Info

Duration of the film: 38 min.

Subtitle
Une diversité menacée par les activités anthropiques
Hour info
12.30 - 13.30
Language
In French
Available
On
Summary

MuseumTalks

Bauchet Katemo Manda

The Upemba National Park, in the south of DR Congo, is home to a great diversity of fish estimated at 235 species, 33 of which are endemic. Unfortunately, various increasingly growing anthropogenic activities, including large-scale fishing with mosquito nets and the construction of a large hydroelectric dam, threaten the survival of several species and the sustainability of fisheries. Currently, the Upemba National Park has an updated inventory of fish species and good documentation of threats. Researchers and managers are working on producing for the first time a conservation and sustainable management plan for this rich ichthyofauna.

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About the speaker

Dr. Bauchet Katemo Manda is a lecturer-researcher at the University of Lubumbashi in south-eastern DR Congo. He is also a collaborator of the Royal Museum for Central Africa in the framework of the MbiSa II project. He conducts his research within the framework of studies on the diversity and ecology of fish in the Congo Basin.

 

 

Related articles:


MuseumTalks

Join us each month for an exciting talk about one particular aspect of the permanent exhibition! Take a look behind the scenes of the AfricaMuseum and discover the work of its scientists and its collaboration with African artists.

> All MuseumTalks

 

Place

Online

Price

Free, but registration is mandatory

Subtitle
Mabele eleki lola ! The earth, brighter than paradise
Hour info
5.00 p.m.
Language
In French
Available
On
Summary

Freddy Tsimba, In Koli Jean Bofane & Nadia Yala Kisukidi

Moderator : Ayoko Mensah

This panel discusses the work of Freddy Tsimba, his dialogue with objects from the AfricaMuseum's collections and the curatorial questions this has raised.

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Forgotten by time. Men's bodies, 2016. Recovery equipment, keys, spoons, forks, scissors, crown caps, mouse traps and cartridge cases. Collection of the artist, Kinshasa - © Wonda-Mansia, Kinshasa, 2020.

 

About the speakers

  • Freddy Tsimba, artist

Photo © Renaud Barret

Freddy Bienvenu Tsimba (Kinshasa, 1967) is known and renowned in Kinshasa and the international art scene. He works with bronze and scrap metal. The independent and engaged Congolese artist is deeply attached to human rights, particularly those of the most fragile ‒ mothers and children. Tsimba is famous for his sculptures made from casings and cartridges and for his machete houses. He has participated in several editions of the Biennale de Dakar (2002, 2006 and 2008) as well as group exhibitions such as The Divine Comedy (2014), Kongo am Rhein (Basel, 2017) and Afriques Capitales (Lille, 2017) under the aegis of Simon Njami.
 

  • In Koli Jean Bofane, writer and curator of the exhibition Mabele eleki lola! The earth, brighter than paradise

In Koli Jean Bofane (Mbandaka, 1954) is a Congolese writer and exhibit curator. His books have won several prizes and been translated into several languages. They include Pourquoi le lion n’est plus le roi des animaux (Gallimard Jeunesse, 1996) and Mathématiques congolaises (2008), Congo Inc. Le Testament de Bismarck (2014 ; Congo Inc. Bismarck’s Testament, Indiana University Press, 2018) and La Belle de Casa (2018), all published by Actes Sud. In his work, he tackles the themes of globalization and social and political violence in post-colonial African societies, particularly in Central Africa.
 

  • Nadia Yala Kisukidi, philosopher

© Emilie Notéris

Nadia Yala Kisukidi is lecturer in philosophy at the University of Paris 8 Vincennes-Saint-Denis. She was Vice-President of the Collège International de Philosophie (2014-2016) and Programme Director at the CIPh (2013-2019). Member of the editorial committee of the journal Critical Time (Duke University) and of the Cahiers d'études africaines (CNRS, Ehess), she is currently co-curator of the Yango II Biennale in Kinshasa, DRC, which will be held from 5 November to 5 December 2021.
Nadia Yala Kisukidi is a specialist in contemporary French philosophy and Africana philosophy. She has published several books (individual or collective) and numerous articles.
 

  • Ayoko Mensah, moderator

© Caroline Lessire

Ayoko Mensah is a cultural expert and artistic programmer. Since 2016, she has been working for the Centre for Fine Arts (BOZAR) in Brussels. Of Togolese heritage, born in France in 1968, Mensah graduated in cultural management, literature and journalism in France. She has worked as an expert for several international organisations and cultural institutions (including UNESCO, the European Commission, the Africa Caribbean Pacific Group, AfricaMuseum,Tervuren). She has also written more than a hundred articles and co-authored several books.

Place

Online

Duration
About 1h30
Price

Free, but registration is mandatory.

Subtitle
Identité, langue et culture chez les jeunes de la deuxième génération de migration congolaise en Belgique
Hour info
12.30 - 13.30
Language
In French
Available
On
Summary

MuseumTalks

Priscilla Kasongo Dioso

The experience of migration can cause identity and/or language disturbances. In order to manage these disturbances, migrants can be led to develop strategies. These strategies were at the heart of Priscilla Kasongo's doctoral research, carried out at the Université catholique de Louvain between 2014 and 2020.

During her thesis, she analysed the language practices of young people of the second generation of Congolese migration (D.R. Congo) in Belgium, in order to identify the identity strategies they put in place, and to establish the profiles corresponding to these strategies.

During this communication, Priscilla Kasongo will present her research results, in particular the intercultural identity construction schema that she has constructed, a schema in which the Belgian-Congolese identity is central and broken down into several sub-profiles (radical or multicultural, convergent or divergent).

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About the speaker

Recently graduated from the Université catholique de Louvain, Dr Priscilla Kasongo Dioso is mainly interested in intercultural issues related to the Congolese diasporas (D.R. Congo) in the world, more particularly in their identity, language and sociolinguistic aspects.

Her publications at Éditions L'Harmattan and Éditions Universitaires Européennes bear witness to this. In addition, her documentary, produced in collaboration with the non-profit organisation Be Pax, explores the theme of the transnational activities of the Belgian-Congolese:

 


MuseumTalks

Join us each month for an exciting talk about one particular aspect of the permanent exhibition! Take a look behind the scenes of the AfricaMuseum and discover the work of its scientists and its collaboration with African artists.

> All MuseumTalks

 

Place

Online

Price

Free, but registration is required.

Hour info
12.30 - 13.30
Language
In French
Available
On
Summary

MuseumTalks

An encounter with artist Hadassa Ngamba, in residence at the HISK Ghent

Hadassa Ngamba is interested in the cartographic arrangements of former African colonial territories, particularly the DRC, and the way in which these spaces have been submerged and confiscated by imperial and capitalist systems.

In particular, she attacks the indicators of capitalism and, through her work, she challenges the signals of a system that she considers to be failing and unbalanced.

Her current work analyses and investigates the cartographies of Katanga and Kongo Central.

Hadassa Ngamba completed a residency at the AfricaMuseum in January 2020. There she conducted research in the departments of geology and history.

During this MuseumTalk, she will address the theme of Congolese cartography and access to archives. 

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Cerveau3

 

About the artist

Hadassa Ngamba was born in 1993 in Kizu, in the province of Kongo Central in the DRC. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Criminology from the University of Lubumbashi and lives and works in Katanga and Central Kongo. She is currently a postgraduate candidate and resident at the HISK (Hoger Instituut voor Schone Kunsten - Higher Institute of Fine Arts) in Ghent.

Hadassa Ngamba is a visual artist. She participated in the 5th and 6th Lubumbashi Biennial. In 2019, she carried out a residency at WIELS. She also received the Moonens Foundation prize, which enabled her to carry out field research in the province of Kongo Central in 2019.

Her work consists of paintings, drawings, photographs, videos, installations and performances. She is interested in economic indicators and the monitoring of strategic spaces in the DRC in relation to the exploitation of mining and land resources. Her work is based on cartography, hence her interest in the museum and its archives. In her paintings and drawings - often large formats - she creates a mental cartography with an emphasis on distortions and shortcomings. She often uses mineral materials as pigments, particularly malachite from Katanga.

 


MuseumTalks

Join us each month for an exciting talk about one particular aspect of the permanent exhibition! Take a look behind the scenes of the AfricaMuseum and discover the work of its scientists and its collaboration with African artists.

> All MuseumTalks

 

Place

Auditorium of the AfricaMuseum, entrance via the Welcome Pavilion (building A on the map)

Price

Free, but registration is required.

Info

Don't forget your mask!

Subtitle
Online conference
Hour info
12.30 - 13.30
Language
In French
Available
On
Summary

MuseumTalks

Jean Omasombo Tshonda

On 30 June 1960, King Baudouin and Patrice Lumumba each defended their views on colonisation. Their speeches expose diametrically opposed visions and constitute the dominant image of the decolonisation of the Belgian Congo.

On 30 June 2020, on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the independence of the Democratic Republic of Congo, the AfricaMuseum is organising a MuseumTalk with Jean Omasombo Tshonda, author of the book La décolonisation du Congo belge: la gestion politique des 24 derniers mois avant l'indépendance. This book traces the political management from July 1958 to June 1960. During this conference, the author addresses the global context of independence as well as the role of Patrice Lumumba.

 

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About the speaker

Jean Omasombo Tshonda is a researcher in the History and Politics Department of the Royal Museum for Central Africa and a professor at the University of Kinshasa.

 

Jean Omasombo Tshonda about Patrice Lumumba's speech:

 

King Baudouin's speech (full version):

 

Joseph Kasa-Vubu's speech (full version):

 

Patrice Lumumba's speech (full version):

 

With the technical support of Storycatchers.

 

Place

Online conference

Price

Free

Hour info
12.30 - 13.30
Language
English
Available
On
Summary

MuseumTalks

Wannes Hubau

Intact tropical forests captured 15% of our carbon dioxide emissions over the early 2000s, storing it in wood and other forms of biomass. However, the capacity of Amazonian forests to capture excess carbon from the atmosphere is waning. In this MuseumTalk, we learn how the African tropical forest ‘carbon sink’ is evolving and whether we have pushed ‘The Lungs of our Planet’ to their very limits.

 

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About the speaker

Wannes Hubau explores tropical African vegetation responses to climate change at several timescales. He obtained his PhD at Ghent University in 2013 and conducted post-doctoral research at Leeds University, the Wood Biology Service of the AfricaMuseum and Ghent University. He led numerous field expeditions in four African countries (Liberia, Ghana, Cameroon, DR Congo).

 


MuseumTalks

Join us each month for an exciting talk about one particular aspect of the permanent exhibition! Take a look behind the scenes of the AfricaMuseum and discover the work of its scientists and its collaboration with African artists.

> All MuseumTalks

 

Place

Foyer, on level -1 of the Welcome Pavilion (building A on the map)

Price

Free, just drop in