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A major event in the world’s non-European
art landscape, one of the largest museums for
African art, the Musée Royal de l’Afrique Centrale
in Tervuren, Belgium, is reopening its doors after
fi ve years of renovation work and the long-awaited
inauguration will be celebrated by the museum’s
staff and the African art community. Drum roll,
please: The galleries will open to the public again on
December 9, 2018. The renovation of the museum
was necessary and long overdue, and in implementing
it the institution has also responded to several
other important issues. Among them was the need
to strengthen the conservation protocols for the col-
African artists and the iconic masters of the past.
The resulting discourse between continents and eras
now nurtured by the MRAC will be a means of
forming new perspectives about the African continent.
This will be aided by the many collaborative
projects the museum is developing.
Tribal Art magazine is dedicating its annual special
issue to this milestone event so you too can enjoy
an exclusive look at the ins and outs of this new
phase of the MRAC’s mission. It addresses the history
of the institution, its updated perspective, and
its new permanent installation, “Art sans pareil”
(“Unrivaled Art”), which will showcase the greatness
of the arts of the Congo.
This was curated by Julien
Volper, who also
provided invaluable
collaboration in the
realization of this
special issue.
FIG. 1 (above): Kifwebe
mask and costume.
Songye or Luba, Katompi,
Tanganyika, DR Congo. Early
20th century.
Wood (Ricinodendron heudelotii),
pigment, feathers, fi ber, raffi a.
H: 108 cm.
MRAC, Tervuren, donated by Hoofd,
1928, inv. EO.0.0.30593.
FIG. 2 (left): Chéri Samba
(b. 1956). Réorganisation,
2002.
Lives and works in Kinshasa,
DR Congo.
Oil on canvas. 104 x 134 cm.
MRAC, Tervuren, KMMA coll.,
inv. HO.0.I.3865.
FIG. 3 (below): Processional
axe. Tetela, Sankuru,
DR Congo. 19th century.
Wood, copper alloy, iron.
H: 43.5 cm.
MRAC, Tervuren, RMAH donation,
1912, inv. EO.0.0.7955.
FIG. 4 (left): Whistle.
Pende, DR Congo.
MRAC, Tervuren, inv. MO.0.0.3659.
FIG. 5 (right): Mini-niombo,
by the artist Makosa.
Bwende, DR Congo.
1930s (?).
Collected by the missionary E. Karlman.
Accessioned in 1934 by the MRAC,
Tervuren, inv. EO.0.0.35754.
lection by updating the display cases. The building
dates from the late nineteenth century and had not
had any major work done on it since. It was also
imperative to improve the accessibility of the collection,
in particular through a digitalization campaign
and an in-depth assessment of the African patrimony
it houses. Most important was the need to move
beyond the museum’s “colonial” past and refocus
it toward twenty-fi rst-century Africa. In short, the
challenge has been to give a new look to a museum
from another era, one that houses a colossal collection
of inestimable historic, artistic, and aesthetic
value.
Structurally, the building has retained its original
form and has been restored in keeping with the spirit
of the architecture while adapting it to the modern
requirements of public use and an updated presentation
of the collection. More than 100,000 square
feet of gallery space has been expertly designed by
Niek Kortekaas and Johan Schelfhout to showcase
African artworks, both historical and contemporary.
A key element of this reenvisioning is the creation of
a dialog between antique and modern art, of living