Guido Gryseels has been getting calls for a week, asking if he’d give some statues a new home. He’s the director of the Africa Museum in Tervuren, Belgium, and his institution, originally founded by Leopold II, might seem like a logical place to house monuments to the 19th-century king whose reign in Congo saw the murder and mutilation of at least 10 million Africans. One possible way to deal with a problematic statue would be to treat it like a bronze likeness of the deposed former president of Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah. A statue of him was beheaded during a 1966 military coup, and later placed next to its body on a plinth, with a plaque explaining the history of its desecration. He said it was a way to simultaneously present both the history of Nkrumah’s regime and of the revolution that removed him.
SOURCE: THE NEW YORK TIMES
More Stories
Rukky Ladoja & Building a Responsible Nigerian Fashion Brand
How to Write About Africa: Collected Works’ Shows Binyavanga Wainaina’s Legacy
Amapiano to the World: The Next Cultural Shift in Mainstream Music
Feeling at Home at New York’s Contemporary African Art Fair
Mr. Eazi on African Music’s Role in Developing and Stimulating the Creative Economy
8 Lisbon Restaurants for Discovering the City’s African Diaspora
Silversea Cruises’ Extended Indian Ocean Island and Southern Africa Programme
Events Specifically Dedicated to Celebrating Black Music and Culture in Europe
Namibia Offers a Wealth of Experiences for Adventurous Travellers
Top Destinations to Visit in Africa
Establishing Manufacturing Nodes across the Continent and Leveraging on the AfCFTA
The Agritech Innovators Bringing Transformative Change to the Continent’s Green Economy