Royal Museum for Central Africa

About

The Royal Museum for Central Africa (RMCA) (Dutch: Koninklijk Museum voor Midden-Afrika (KMMA); French: Musée royal de l'Afrique centrale (MRAC); German: Königliches Museum für Zentralafrika (KMZA)), communicating under the name AfricaMuseum since 2018, is an ethnography and natural history museum situated in Tervuren in Flemish Brabant, Belgium, just outside Brussels. It was originally built to showcase King Leopold II's Congo Free State in the International Exposition of 1897. The museum focuses on the Congo, a former Belgian colony. The sphere of interest, however, especially in biological research, extends to the whole Congo Basin, Central Africa, East Africa, and West Africa, attempting to integrate "Africa" as a whole. Intended originally as a colonial museum, from 1960 onwards it has focused more on ethnography and anthropology. Like most museums, it houses a research department in addition to its public exhibit department. Not all research pertains to Africa (e.g. research on the archaeozoology of Sagalassos, Turkey). Some researchers have strong ties with the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences. In November 2013, the museum closed for extensive renovation work, including...

Main article: Brussels International Exposition (1897) After the Congo Free State was recognised by the Berlin Conference of 1884–85, King Leopold II wanted to publicise the civilising mission and the economic opportunities available in his private colony to a wider public, both in Belgium and internationally. After considering other places, the king decided to have a temporary exhibition in his royal estate in Tervuren, just east of Brussels, in today's province of Flemish Brabant.

When the 1897 International Exposition was held in Brussels, a colonial section was built in Tervuren, connected to the city centre by the monumental Avenue de Tervueren/Tervurenlaan. The Brussels–Tervuren tram line 44 was built at the same time as the original museum by Leopold II to bring the visitors from the city centre to the colonial exhibition. The colonial section was hosted in the Palace of the Colonies. The building was designed by the French architect Alfred-Philibert Aldrophe and the classical gardens by the French landscape architect Elie Lainé. In the main hall, known as the Hall of the Great Cultures (French: Salon des Grandes Cultures ), the architect and decorator Georges Hobé [ fr ] designed a distinctive wooden Art Nouveau structure to evoke a Congolese forest, using Bilinga wood, an African tree. The exhibition displayed ethnographic objects, stuffed animals and Congolese export products (e.g. coffee, cacao and tobacco). In the park, a temporary " human zoo "—a copy of an African village—was built, in which 60 Congolese people lived for the duration of the exhibition. Seven of them died during their forced stay in Belgium.

Poster for the colonial section of the 1897 International Exposition

Plan of the colonial section of the 1897 World's Fair in Tervuren

Wooden structure by Georges Hobé [ fr ] in the Hall of the Great Cultures during the exhibition

The 'Congolese Village' human zoo during the exhibition

The exhibition's success led to the permanent establishment, in 1898, of the Museum of the Congo (French: Musée du Congo, Dutch: Museum van Kongo ), a museum and a scientific institution for the dissemination of colonial propaganda and support for Belgium's colonial activities, and a permanent exhibition was installed in the Palace of the Colonies. A decade later, in 1912, a small, similar museum—the African Museum of Namur [ fr ] —was opened in Namur. The museum began to support academic research, but due to the avid collecting of the scientists, the collection soon grew too large for the museum and enlargement was needed. Tervuren, which had become a rich suburb of Brussels, was once again chosen as the location of the enlarged museum. The new museum started construction in 1904 and was designed by the French architect Charles Girault in neoclassical "palace" architecture, reminiscent of the Petit Palais in Paris, with large gardens extending into the Tervuren Forest (a part of the Sonian Forest ). It was officially opened in 1910, a year after the death of Leopold II, by his successor, King Albert I, and named the Museum of the Belgian Congo (French: Musée du Congo Belge, Dutch: Museum van Belgisch-Kongo ).

The following years saw the consolidation and enlargement of the museum's collections. In 1934, the museum's herbarium was transferred to the National Botanic Garden of Belgium (today's Meise Botanic Garden in Meise, Flemish Brabant ). In 1952, the adjective "Royal" was added to the museum's name. In preparation for the 1958 Brussels World's Fair ( Expo 58 ), in 1957, a large building was constructed to accommodate the African personnel working in the exhibition: the Centre d'Accueil du Personnel Africain (CAPA). In 1960, following the independence of the Congo, the museum's name was changed to its current name: the Royal Museum for Central Africa (Dutch: Koninklijk Museum voor Midden-Afrika or KMMA, French: Musée royal de l'Afrique centrale or MRAC, German: Königliches Museum für Zentralafrika or KMZA).

The interior of the original exhibit in the Palace of the Colonies

Poster for the colonial section of the Brussels International Exposition of 1910

The museum's Leopard Man statue, from Le Monde colonial illustré (1934)

Portal of the Royal Museum for Central Africa (Dutch name shown)

By the turn of the millennium, the museum was in need of a thorough renovation. The more than 100-year-old central building was no longer adapted to the needs of a current museum operation. Besides, the permanent exhibition was outdated and its presentation not very critical of the colonial history. A new scenography was thus urgently required.

A global master plan was drawn up in 2007 for the entire site. The Belgian Buildings Agency entrusted the plan to the Temporary Association Stéphane Beel Architects (TV SBA). In late 2013, the museum was closed to allow a major renovation of its exhibits and an extension. The Belgian government spent €66 million on the museum's modernisation. The exhibition area was increased from 6,000 m 2 (65,000 sq ft) to 11,000 m 2 (120,000 sq ft), while presenting fewer pieces; 700 against 1,400 previously (out of a total of 180,000 objects preserved). The additional space allowed contemporary art from Central Africa to be displayed alongside the original colonial exhibits. Renamed AfricaMuseum, the museum was reopened on 9 December 2018. The statue of King Leopold II that once stood in the Great Rotunda was replaced with a sculpture by DRC-born artist, Aimé Mpane. Some of the colonial statues once displayed in the museum were moved in 2023 to areas where only guided tours visit.

The interior of the museum in 2011, shortly before its major renovation

The museum's main building during the 2013–2018 renovation

Old museum entrance through the garden with the restored dome

The Great Rotunda in 2019, featuring the artwork New Breath, or the Burgeoning Congo by Aimé Mpane

Main article: Brussels International Exposition (1897) After the Congo Free State was recognised by the Berlin Conference of 1884–85, King Leopold II wanted to publicise the civilising mission and the economic opportunities available in his private colony to a wider public, both in Belgium and internationally. After considering other places, the king decided to have a temporary exhibition in his royal estate in Tervuren, just east of Brussels, in today's province of Flemish Brabant.