To not miss any African news, subscribe to the “Monde Afrique” newsletter from this link. Every Saturday at 6 am, find a week of news and debates treated by the editorial staff of “Monde Afrique”.
On Thursday 17 February, Belgium handed over to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) a “full inventory” works of art from the Congo held by the Africa Museum in Tervuren, a new stage in the restitution process initiated by the former colonial power.
This catalog was transmitted by Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo to his Congolese counterpart Jean-Michel Sama Lukonde, during a ceremony in this museum on the outskirts of Brussels, on the sidelines of the EU-Africa summit scheduled until Friday in the European capital.
The Royal Museum for Central Africa, opened in 1898, a legacy of Belgian King Leopold II who administered the Congo as his personal property from 1885, brings together one of the largest collections of African objects in the world.
The inventory covers “some 84,000 ethnographic and organological objects” (sculptures, masks, utensils, musical instruments, etc.) arrived on Belgian soil until 1960, the year of independence. This represents about 70% of the museum’s fund, according to its management.
It will allow Kinshasa to express, perhaps as early as 2022, requests for restitution, which will be examined by a Belgian-Congolese team of researchers soon in place, it was explained on the Belgian side during a press conference.
“Historic Moment”
“The first step for this work of restitution was to give all the transparency on what is today in our collections”, said Thomas Dermine, Belgian Secretary of State in charge of the file. According to him, it has been established for the moment that only “a very small fraction of the works” was acquired under illegitimate conditions, through unfair commercial dealings, looting or other violent actions.
But Belgium accepts that “all heritage” Congolese from the museum either “submitted to historical scrutiny” by the future “mixed committee” Belgian-Congolese “because we recognize that, in essence, the colonial relationship was unbalanced”added the French-speaking socialist official.
Mr. Sama Lukonde welcomed “a historic moment”. “It is not only a transfer of objects but also of knowledge and experience necessary for the conservation of these elements”said the Congolese Prime Minister.
In 2021, Belgium announced its intention to return “alienable” assets inherited from its colonial past, i.e. to transfer them from the public domain of the State to the “private domain”, the only way for the looted objects to be returned. A bill to this effect, currently submitted to the Council of State, should be debated in Parliament in the first half of the year.
“We must not be afraid to look our past in the face”said Mr. De Croo, recalling that in 2020 King Philippe had expressed “deep regret” for acts of violence and cruelty during the colonial period in the Congo.