Immersion Week 1: Day 5 in Tervuren

 

            

After Tuesday's early start, the students were certainly pleased to enjoy a free, relaxed Wednesday morning before taking the bus to Tervuren to visit the previously named Royal Museum of Central Africa, now known simply as the Africa Museum. 

From the museum's history page:   

The origin of the AfricaMuseum dates back to the Brussels International Exposition of 1897. At King Leopold II’s behest, the ‘Colonial Section’ of the exhibition was moved to the Africa Palace (formerly known as the ‘Colonial Palace’) in Tervuren. The exhibition halls were home to naturalised animals, geological samples, commodities, Congolese ethnographic and artistic objects and art objects created in Belgium. An African village was recreated in the park and housed several Congolese during the day. Seven of these Congolese individuals died during their time in the village.

Leopold II saw the museum as a propaganda tool for his colonial project, aimed at attracting investors and winning over the Belgian population. It was in 1898 that the temporary exhibition became the first permanent museum of the Congo. The institute has always served the dual purpose of museum and scientific institute. 

The AfricaMuseum reopened on 8 December 2018, after a five-year renovation. The permanent exhibition was outdated and its infrastructure was obsolete, but the biggest challenge was to present a contemporary and decolonised vision of Africa in a building which had been designed as a colonial museum. 

The museum was an engaging and educational experience for both the AU and KU Leuven student who attended the visit.