2021/04/19 by Kris Goffin · 1 voice
Arts and Humanities · Social Sciences · #African Studies and Ethnography #Cultural Identity and Heritage #French Urban and Social Studies
paper · doi:10.1093/aesthj/ayab030
openalex publication_date 2021/04/19 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/30
The Congolese art collection of the city of Antwerp celebrated its 100th birthday in 2020. 100 × Congo displays 100 Congolese artworks of this collection. The curators are Els De Palmenaer (Keeper of the Africa collection of the MAS) and Nadia Nsayi (political scientist and Congo-expert). As I will discuss the importance of being transparent about one’s epistemic perspectives, I believe it is appropriate to mention that I am a white man who grew up in Belgium. I am speaking from this perspective. As the Democratic Republic of the Congo is a former colony of Belgium, colonization is thematized in this exhibition. I think that this exhibition is a successful contribution to the decolonization of this Congolese art collection. This is the main idea I want to articulate in this review. The main part of the exhibition centres on 100 Congolese artworks, ranging from carefully crafted tools, such as eating...