A bull elephant towers over the Menagerie of stuffed wild animals. For the performance piece, presented in 1958 at the world exhibition in Brussels, under the futuristic landmark of the Atomium, have been killed in Africa in fact two elephants. From the carcasses taxidermists were the drab Behemoth. He also has space in the renovated and redesigned the Africa-Museum Tervuren, celebrated on the last weekend of its reopening, its celebrities.

Leopold II., however, is from the center of the colonial Museum, the great rotunda, in a display case at the edge of the banished. The bust is made from African ivory, and in addition, tusks and a few written pieces that deal with the trade in Ivory. King Leopold II is one of the monsters of the Western world. Until 1908, he was able to exploit the Congo free state as his personal property, the huge land mass was to him in 1885 at the Berlin conference of European powers awarded. Chancellor Bismarck had invited to the division of Africa.

From the Congo was brought out of ivory and especially rubber, without regard to the people. Millions of Africans are said to have died by Leopold’s free state of politics, you don’t know exactly, it was “just” slave man. On the other hand: 1508 Belgians were in the Congo in those years of your life. Their names are to be found in the Museum of Tervuren, on the site of Leopold’s country estate, close to the Belgian capital, neatly on a wall documented.

No question, this place is contaminated

The racist practice had in Tervuren, a spiritual center. And always also the Element of the Sensational, Exotic: in 1897, some one hundred people from the Congo have lived here in one of those zoos humains, as at that time in Europe until well into the 20th century. Century were common. It was the starting point of the colonial Museum. No question, the place is contaminated. Five years, the renovation work lasted for, € 70 million has been issued by the Belgian state, in order to find a Form, such as the colonial heritage in the 21st century. Century can be dealt with. The Congo was the case until 1958, the Belgian colony.

an elegant glass-walled pavilion, one enters the Museum, passes under the earth through a kind of historical lock, and reads the writing on the wall – that everything passes, just not the past. In a chamber of horrors the racist propaganda put statues; pictures of murderous Savages, the worst kind of clichés. In the bright entrance area is shown in addition to this evidence, the history of the Museum, very scarce, however.

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France and its colonial art loot True to size and a matter of justice

Nicola Kuhn

it is about European issues. The fundamental issues in the Museum policy. Stolen art: the return of receivables from Africa in Tervuren at the Moment. The reason for this is the fact that this Museum is hardly visible to the audience – a research institution, and for years now, with African museums and universities is associated. 85 researchers, historians, anthropologists, biologists, linguists, a small part, but only with an African Background. The archives of the Tervuren have enormous proportions, you are a part of the history of Central Africa. In the collections over a 12-0000 artifacts, and only one percent is in the newly presented exhibition, masks especially and statues of exceptional quality. Restitution should not be a Problem. In Kinshasa, a new national Museum is nearing completion. About 80 percent of the African cultural heritage located in museums and collections outside the continent. The standard size is in this century discussion.

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