The Royal Museum for Central Africa in Tervuren: How Not to Decolonize a Museum

Abstract

In 2018, after living in Belgium for four years, I had the opportunity to visit the Royal Museum for Central Africa in Tervuren for the first time—a historical institution marked by a brutal colonial past. This essay is a brief ethnographic sketch reflecting on the nature of this museum, which had undergone a conceptual renovation aiming to position itself as a decolonial, critical, and reflexive institution. Through images, I seek to share with readers the impressions evoked by the visit, from the testament of its institutional mission to the artifacts and curation, which led me to a familiar place—far from decolonial and, unsurprisingly, back to Brazil.