Belgium to begin process to return stolen art from Congo in US$78m museum overhaul
- From the late 19th century to 1960, thousands of art works, from statues to musical instruments, were removed from the Democratic Republic of Congo
- Following a US$78 million overhaul of the Africa Museum, the Belgian government is ready to meet DRC calls for restitution
Belgium’s Africa Museum, once a celebration of the country’s colonial rule, will begin a multi-year process of returning stolen art to Democratic Republic of Congo, the Belgian government said on Tuesday.
From the late 19th century to 1960, thousands of art works including wooden statues, elephant ivory masks, manuscripts and musical instruments were likely taken by Belgian and other European collectors, scientists, explorers and soldiers.
Following a €66 million (US$78 million) overhaul of the Africa Museum to take a more critical view of Belgium’s colonial past, the government is ready to meet DRC calls for restitution.
“The approach is very simple: everything that was acquired through illegitimate means, through theft, through violence, through pillaging, must be given back,” Belgian junior minister Thomas Dermine said. “It doesn’t belong to us.”
Millions of Congolese are estimated to have died from the late 19th century when Congo was first a personal fiefdom of King Leopold II, before becoming a colony of the Belgian state.
Belgium will transfer legal ownership of the artefacts to DRC. But it will not immediately ship art works to the country from the museum in Tervuren, just outside Brussels, unless they are specifically requested by DRC authorities.