Royal Museum for Central Africa

Geschiedenis

The Royal Museum for Central Africa or RMCA, colloquially known as the Africa Museum, is an ethnography and natural history museum situated in Tervuren in Flemish Brabant, Belgium, just outside of Brussels. It was first built to showcase King Leopold II's Congo Free State in the 1897 World Exhibition.
The museum focuses on the Congo, a former Belgian colony. The sphere of interest however extends to the whole Congo River basin, Middle Africa, East Africa and West Africa, attempting to integrate \"Africa\" as a whole. Intended originally as a colonial museum, from 1960 onwards it has more focused on ethnography and anthropology. Like most museums, it houses a research department in addition to its public exhibit department.
Not all research pertains to Africa. Some researchers have strong ties with the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences.
As of November 2013, the museum is closed for renovation work which is expected to last until May 2016 when the museum will reopen.

"The AfricaMuseum is a centre for knowledge and resources on Africa, in particular Central Africa, in an historical, contemporary, and global context. The museum exhibits unique collections. It is a place of memory on the colonial past and strives to be a dynamic platform for exchanges and dialogues between cultures and generations."