King Leopold's ghost: Belgium's Africa museum to reopen

[rooster59]

King Leopold's ghost: Belgium's Africa museum to reopen

 

FILE PHOTO: A giant golden statue of a European missionary with an African boy clutching his robes is seen at the Royal Museum for Central Africa in Tervuren, near Brussels, January 22, 2014. Francois Lenoir/File Photo

 

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Belgium's Africa Museum, once a triumphant celebration of the country's colonial past, is to reopen after years of renovations, with a more critical view on a dark piece of history.

 

The museum, full of historic artefacts and stuffed wildlife, was often criticised for ignoring the brutalities of a time when millions of Congolese are estimated to have died when Congo was first a personal fiefdom of King Leopold II in the late 19th century before becoming a colony of the Belgian state.

 

A golden statue of a European missionary holding an African child with a plaque that reads: "Belgium brings civilization to Congo", will remain on show, but its historical context will be explained.

 

"We hope to bring that new story, that new narrative, in our museum," said Guido Gryseels, managing director of the museum which is set to re-open in December.

 

The Belgian government has spent 66 million euros ($77 million) modernising the museum, set in a palatial, neoclassical building in a sprawling park just outside the capital Brussels.

 

As well as striking a new tone, the museum features a visitor centre made entirely of glass and an underground gallery that will serve as its new entrance.

 

Additional space will allow the museum to expand its collection, displaying contemporary art from Central Africa alongside its original colonial exhibits.

 

"What happened back then in Congo, no matter how awful I find it, we cannot rewrite it. But we can reflect it in a correct way," said Zuhal Demir, a minister in the Belgian government.

 

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-06-02

[nausea]

Heart of Darkness and all that.

[brommers]

Of course this museum will not reflect accurately the fact that the Belgians were the most racist & cruel of all the European nations that decimated Africa. And the Belgian monarchy was allowed to essentially own these vast tracts of land so should be forced to personally pay reparations. A most disgraceful and inhumane period that has left the modern day states that replaced the Belgians as dysfunctional hell holes for their inhabitants.

[chippendale]

Belgians were the most evil and exploitative of all the empires.

[Shaksey]

I hope there is room for the museum for some good displays and info about Sir Henry Morton Stanley, very misunderstood but truly a hero of Africa and the greatest land explorer in history. He went a long way towards tempering the softening the darker intentions and desires/aims of Leopold but due to his funding by and close ties to him Stanley has traditionally been thought of in much the same way as Leopold. 

 

It was Stanley who did most of the discovering and exploration and hard work for Leopold but ultimately found himself misled and lied to by his benefactor over his intentions for Africa and Africans.

Edited June 3, 2018 by Shaksey