FIGS. 3a and b (LEFT):
Standing ¿ gure, nkishi. S ongye,
D R Congo.
H: 88 cm.
E x E lmar F irm.
Accessioned by th e RMCA in
195 1, EO.195 1.10.1.
a: © RMCA , ph oto :
R. Asselb ergh s for Trésors
Cachés ( 1995).
b: © RMCA, ph oto : H ugues
D ub ois for th e exh ib ition Le
Sensible e t la Force (2 004).
29
ethnography section. I recall that it was not
without some hesitation that I argued in favor
of his idea as soon as he had explained it to me.
Prelude
Let us return to that winter day in 1992 or
1993 when De Vries and Thys met. De Vries
found the right words to express how impatiently
the world of specialists, curators, and
African art afi cionados was waiting for the
opportunity to fi nally see and contemplate the
masterpieces that were hibernating in our reserves.
He insisted that the museum was a public
institution and that it had an obligation to
present its enormous artistic patrimony to the
public at large. He was also convinced that an
exhibition of this kind would help bridge the
gap that had been forming between the world
of afi cionados and collectors and that of ethnologists
and art historians (we’ll come back
to this later).
For my part, I argued that the presentation
of an aesthetic exhibition highlighting our
masterpieces would not in any way prevent
us from explaining in an accompanying publication
what the functions and signifi cance of
these works were within their societies of origin.
And there was no reason not to combine
meaning with beauty.
Finally, it had become clear that an exhibition
of hitherto unseen masterpieces at the
RMCA would draw large numbers of visitors,
and it might well serve as a starting point for
organizing future thematic events that would
have a more direct bearing on the research we
were engaged with in our collections.
I don’t recall if Thys was reticent at fi rst or if
he hesitated and asked for time to think it over,
but, in the end, he was favorably disposed to
the project. I inwardly saluted the spirit of
openness that he demonstrated because I remembered
what he had written eight years
earlier.
Once the decision had been made to organize
this exhibition of RMCA masterpieces, the
events that followed were anything but smooth
and easy sailing.
The process of selecting the objects, which
took place between March 1993 and August
1994, was split into several stages during
Une fois la décision prise d’organiser cette exposition
de chefs-d’oeuvre du MRAC, la suite des
événements fut tout sauf un long fl euve tranquille.
Le processus de sélection des objets, entre mars
1993 et août 1994 se scinda en plusieurs épisodes,
où tour à tour les différentes manières de concevoir
cette exposition, et surtout d’opérer la sélection des
oeuvres, problématique sur laquelle je me pencherai
plus particulièrement ici, s’exprimèrent.
Premier temps
Louis De Vries, auteur du concept, se proposa tout
naturellement de nous aider à faire la sélection des
oeuvres dans les réserves. Ce qu’il fi t effi cacement,