The decolonisation of museums has been much discussed in recent years. At the same time, our cultural institutions struggle with their colonial history and the task of structurally decolonizing their organizations.
What is the broader social role of our museums and what is the path to true decolonisation? We take the recent reopening of KMSKA as a case study and enter into conversation with guests who have a vision of both developments and solutions.
Case study
KMSKA reopened at the end of September with the ‘Finest Opening Festival' on the museum square. Antwerp resident Judith Elseviers rang the alarm and started an action together with Nadia Nsayi to ask for recognition of the colonial shadow side of the square. During the 1894 World's Fair, 144 people were taken away by boat from the Congo and exhibited in a human zoo in front of the museum. 7 of them did not survive: Bitio, Sabo, Isokoyé, Manguesse, Binda, Mangwanda and Pezo. With the action that now has 940 signatories, they want to commemorate the Congolese victims.
Program
7:30 PM - doors open
8:00 PM - start talk
9:00 PM - Q&A
9:30 PM - drinks
This talk will be held in Dutch.
Free entrance, registration required.
This talk is organized by MINO Art Space & Agency. MINO Agency connects and empowers cultural professionals and game changers to structurally change the cultural sector. Four times a year they organize a talk to critically reflect, inspire each other and turn words into deeds.
WITH:
JUDITH ELSEVIERS
AMA KORANTENG-KUMI (MODERATOR)
KOEN BULCKENS
KEVIN KOTAHUNYI
ELS DE PALMENAER
ABOUT OUR GUESTS
Judith Elseviers (lawyer and initiator of the action memorial Museumplein) lives in Antwerp and is active in the cultural world, both in Belgium and in Congo, where her roots lie. She developed the learning program ‘Decolonize Your Municipality’ intended for city councils, libraries and schools. As a decolonization consultant, she gives lectures and advises cultural institutions. Previous projects include with Middelheimmuseum (Antwerp) for the exhibition ‘Congo-ville’ and for ‘Congo Connecting - Carl de Keyzer’ at the Pennings Foundation (Eindhoven).
Koen Bulckens (art historian) has been curator of Old Masters at KMSKA since 2020. He conducts research, writes and creates exhibitions. For the past two years, he has been studying the colonial history of KMSKA with a focus on the financing of the building and the collection, the human zoo on the museum square, and the colonial storylines behind some of the collection pieces.
Kevin Kotahunyi (Curator-Advisor, Please Add Color) found that less than 1% of visual arts students in Antwerp are people of color. In 2019 he founded the platform ‘Please Add Color’ and strives to increase diversity in the visual arts. As a curatorial consultant, he guides young artists of color as they begin their artistic careers. Around the reopening of KMSKA, he gathered critical voices on social media about the lack of diversity and representation at this museum.
Els de Palmenaer is curator of the exhibition '100 x Congo. A Century of Congolese Art in Antwerp' (2020-2021) realised with Nadia Nsayi as curator 'Representation'. In preparation for the expo, she immersed herself in archives about Antwerp's colonial past and World Fairs. Then not only unknown documents and archival pieces came to light about the deaths of seven Congolese, but also their resting place. A tragic incident remained unexposed until 2020.
Ama Koranteng-Kumi has been strengthening cultural institutions in the Netherlands and Belgium for +10y in the field of organizational culture, change management and diversity & inclusion. Together with Tinne Langens she founded MINO Art Space and Agency early this year.
