In order to restore Belgian heritage objects, the Parliament must examine a bill that would align all the assets inherited from the colonial past.
Le Monde with AFP.
Belgium has awarded Thursday 17 February to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) a “complete inventory” of art objects originating in the Congo held by the Museum of Africa of Tervuren, new stage in the process of restitution hired by the old colonial power.
This catalog was transmitted by Belgian Prime Minister Alexander de Croo to his Congolese counterpart Jean-Michel Sama Lukonde, at a ceremony in this museum on the outskirts of Brussels, on the sidelines of the EU-Africa Summit planned until to Friday in the European Capital.
The Royal Central African Museum, opened in 1898, heritage of the King of Belgians Leopold II who administered the Congo as his personal property from 1885, brings together one of the largest collections in the world of objects Africans.
The inventory focuses on “some 84,000 ethnographic and organological objects” (sculptures, masks, utensils, musical instruments, etc.) reached on the Belgian soil until 1960, year of independence. This represents about 70% of the museum’s fund, according to its direction.
It will allow Kinshasa to express, perhaps in 2022, requests for restitution, which will be examined by a Belgo-Congolese team of researchers soon in place, has been explained in Belgian side at a conference press.
“Historical moment”
“The first step for this restitution work was to give all the transparency on what is today in our collections,” said Thomas Dermin, Belgian Secretary of State in charge of the file. According to him, it was established for the moment that only “a very small fraction of the works” was acquired under illegitimate conditions, by unfair commercial transactions, looting or other violent actions.
But Belgium accepts that “all the” Congolese heritage of the museum be “subject to historical examination” by the future “Mixed Commission” Belgo-Congolese “because we recognize that, in essence, the colonial relationship was Unbalanced, “added the Francophone Socialist Manager.
m. Sama Lukonde greeted “a historic moment”. “It’s not just a transfer of objects but also knowledge and experience for the conservation of these elements,” said Congolese Prime Minister.
In 2021, Belgium had announced its intention to render “alienable” the inherited property of its colonial past, that is to say to transfer them from the public domain of the state to the “private domain”, the only way so that the spoliated objects can be returned. A bill in this respect, currently submitted to the Council of State, should be discussed in Parliament in the first half.
“Do not be afraid to look at our past,” said Mr. de Croo, recalling that in 2020 King Philip had expressed “profound regret” for acts of violence and cruelty. The colonial period in Congo.