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The Museum as Rift Zone – The Construction and Representation of “East” and “Central” Africa in the (Belgian) Congo Museum/Royal Museum for Central Africa
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 04 April 2019
Abstract:
This article discusses how the (post)colonial museum in Tervuren helped to create an artificial separation between “East” and “Central” Africa on both sides of Lake Tanganyika, while in reality this was and still is a zone of encounter. The exclusion of the “Arab” was twofold. First, East African objects were not exhibited. Second, “Eastern” material culture that was collected in Central Africa, became represented as imported traces of “barbary,” only highlighting the “civilizing mission” of European colonization.
Résumé:
Cet article se penche sur la façon dont le musée (post)colonial de Tervuren a contribué à créer une séparation artificielle entre l’Afrique de l’Est et l’Afrique Centrale des deux côtés du lac Tanganyika, alors qu’il s’agissait en réalité d’une zone de rencontre. L’exclusion de “l’Arabe” était double. Premièrement, les objets d’Afrique de l’Est n’ont pas été exposés. Deuxièmement, la culture matérielle “orientale” qui a été collectée en Afrique Centrale a fini par être représentée comme une trace importée de la “barbarie” ce qui a eu pour résultat de souligner uniquement la “mission civilisatrice” de la colonisation européenne.
- Type
- Bridging Histories of East and Central Africa
- Information
- Copyright
- Copyright © African Studies Association 2019
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