Congo at the Heritage Library - Slow Travel Antwerp

Congo

Heritage Library Hendrik Conscience, Nottebohmzaal

Antwerp, Hendrik Conscienceplein 4

March 2020 – November 2020

Heritage Library Hendrik Conscience

Last week we were expected in the Heritage Library for an introduction to the new mini-exhibition in the Nottebohmzaal. This can only be visited during guided tours in and around the Nottebohmzaal, or before and after the lectures (see below). I was a little early and slipped into the Nottebohmzaal. I was very surprised at the bright room, apparently a photographer had just left. The curtains had been opened for this occasion. It was the first time that I saw the room with daylight. Despite the bad weather outside, she was even more beautiful than usual.

Congo

This summer there are a few exhibitions in Antwerp around Congo: ‘100x Congo’ is running in the MAS and ‘Congoville’ in the Middelheimmuseum. It is not a general theme for the Antwerp museums, but the Heritage Library has jumped on to it. This spring, the Nottebohm lectures (only in Dutch) will be devoted to 60 years of independant Congo. In the display cabinets in the staircase are several books by speakers: Bambi Ceuppens and Nadia Nsayi are represented.

In the collection

The employees have made a very interesting selection from the library’s collection. It is also interesting for us guides: we have received a 34-page document with background information. There are maps of Congo, books about the supporters and opponents of the regime of Leopold II, a memorial book of the inauguration of a finished railway from 1898 and much more. If you visit the MAS exhibition afterwards, the first showcase on the left is interesting: this is about the nkisi nkonde of Ne Kuko, a statuette with a history of restitution. This statue will be on display at the MAS expo.

If you want more information, you can ask me or one of my colleagues for a tour.

Congo

Heritage Library Hendrik Conscience, Nottebohmzaal

Antwerp, Hendrik Conscienceplein 4

March 2020 – November 2020

More information (in Dutch)

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