Looted Artifacts from Belgian Museum to Be Returned to DRC

2,000  artifacts, a number that represents around 2 percent of Belgian's collection of artwork that originates from Africa and was looted during the colonial period, will be returned to the country as announced by the Belgian government. 

 
1,20,000 items are held by Africa's royal museum in Tervuren which is a municipality outside of Brussels. The majority of these items had their origin in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). 

The Congo free state was ruled over by Kind Leopard II at the death of the 19th century. To meet the demands of the global tyre industry,  King Leopard had enslaved millions of people for making them work for the rubber industry by extracting rubber from the vines.

The Concern of Threat to Cultural Heritage

Thomas Dermine, Belgium's science minister, had declared the items in possession of the country that have their origins outside of it have never belonged to it. He added that a more radical and holistic approach should be adopted when it comes to something as special as the country's cultural heritage.

 
Moving from the 19th century to the year 190, a colossal number of artifacts that include manuscripts, statues, metal masks, and instruments of music have been taken from the Democratic Republic of Congo's museums by Belgian scientists and explorers. 

Determine also stated the country's need of returning everything that has been acquired through force and violence. 

Many assets and artifacts have been acquired by the ancestors and older generations of the citizens of Belgium.  Dermine said that it was very important for the country to return everything that was acquired illegitimately. He added that all the illegally acquired artifacts that are being talked about belong to the Congolese people and not to the Belgians.  

Thinking a little deeper into the matter of cultural rights and acquiring what ancestors leave for their future generations, Dermine added that taking away the cultural possession of a country is like depriving its citizens of their own culture and history. He said that such cultural possessions are linked with the spirituality of the ancestors of the place where they originate from. 

Thousands of young people were on the streets last summer demanding a government to act responsibly while handling their colonial legacy. Black lives matter demonstration had sparked 15000, the number of people to Brussels. Statues of king leopard II were dismantled and infrastructure in his name was renamed.

The number of artifacts to be returned is still not definite. Dermine has said that around sixty percent of the artifacts in the Royal Museum have been acquired legally but still the process of assessment of these have not been made known to the public till now. Thousands of items are still to be assessed. 

To carry out further investigation, the government will be working with the Democratic Republic of Congo's government. 

Legal ownership of the artifacts will be transferred from Belgium to the Democratic Republic of Congo. Unless requested by DRC authorities, artifacts will not be immediately shipped for Tervuren. 

This is because the museum has always attracted lots of visitors like a flock of flies to it as it has been very popular since ever. The museum authority has decided to keep these artifacts in the display section of the museum. Paying a loan to the Democratic Republic of Congo is one option. 

According to the United Nations, the Democratic Republic of Congo falls among the poor countries and has a few cultural centers. Guido Gryseels, Belgium's museum director, said that they can cooperate with the  Congolese authority. The museum has many such artifacts that are being viewed from the lenses of suspicion as their origin is still unclear.  

A team of scientists will be called for identifying the artifacts that were acquired illegally and stored in this museum of Belgium. The process is expected to take around years as there is a colossal number of artifacts in the museum. 

Sanger, a professor at Kinshasa University also works at the museum. He claimed that the process was not a very complicated one and was pretty simple. He added that the objects are going back to where they belong and from where they were acquired illegally by theft and violence. 

Sanger says that these many questions should not be asked while dealing with these artifacts as it is exactly like stealing money from someone's wallet and then asking them if they wanted their money back. 

As the number of artifacts to be returned is still not clear and the popular museum of Belgium has possession of a great number of artifacts with unsure places of origin, scientists are confident that the given years' time was necessary and would be enough to solve this cultural issue. 

Written by - Devyani Roy

Edited by - Akanksha Sharma