AfricaMuseum director addresses diversity and colonial history concerns from employees
The director of the AfricaMuseum in Tervuren has responded to a column in De Morgen by the museum's public relations officer, reviving a debate about the content of the museum and its adherence to Belgium's colonialist past. In an interview with VRT's Terzake, he said issues raised by her and other employees were due to a lack of funding.
Bart Ouvry said there were "quite a few problems" in the museum that "mainly have to do with the budgetary situation" in response to Nadia Nsayi's assertions that too little has been done in terms of diversity since the reopening of the museum in 2018.
Former employee Tine Geunis recently resigned over similar views. Previously head of the department overseeing educational activities, Geunis did not feel the museum was giving enough attention to Belgium's history of colonisation and violence in Africa.
"The AfricaMuseum should be the place where children learn about the colonial past"
"By not doing that, you are missing out on a lot," she said.
"It is there and it is not going away. I think that the story of the museum should start with Belgium. What inspired our country to colonise Congo? It is part of our history. We don't question the fact that schoolchildren learn something about the Shoah in Kazerne Dossin, do we? The AfricaMuseum should be the place where they learn about the colonial past.”
Positions of power
Nsayi further said that "a recent recruitment reinforces my suspicion that the institution is not ready to give black people positions of power". She referred to the application of a Belgian-Congolese art historian who was not hired for the position.
"There were three excellent candidates and the one who got through was indeed not of African descent," said Ouvry. "On the other hand, in a few weeks, a new scientist will start as head of the department who is of African descent. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't."
Broad focus
Nsayi has also criticised the museum's new vision statement, which says it will continue to focus on sub-Saharan Africa.
"The museum collection is largely Congolese, so why the focus on a continent?" she asked. "And to what extent does the new vision differ from Leopold II's colonial vision to build 'a museum about Africa'?"
Bruno Verbergt, the museum's operational director of public-oriented services, says it is in the best interest of the museum to have a comprehensive direction to draw more visitors.
"It is a federal museum. The target group is, therefore, the broad Belgian population. In order to implement a healthy financial policy, a broad audience is needed," he said. "Certainly at a federal institution, where successive cutbacks have led to dire underfunding."
"To what extent does the new vision differ from Leopold II's colonial vision to build 'a museum about Africa'?"
In response to Nsayi's concerns, Ouvry has said he would also like to implement changes at the museum.
“I would like to see it progress more quickly. We want to encourage as much as possible the recruitment of staff of African origin," he said. "But there are administrative and budgetary constraints on recruitment. We are bound by federal regulations. The new head of the restoration department, who will be taking up his post soon, is of African origin. The permanent museum display will also be updated."
A bust of Leopold II at the AfricaMuseum in Tervuren © PHOTO FRANK ABBELOOS
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