Brussels, July 8th 2021 (CPA).– Belgium has decided to return to the Democratic Republic of Congo the ownership of works of art stolen during the colonial period, indicate the conclusions of the restricted Belgian Council of Ministers held on Tuesday, at this subject, following the discussions initiated in this direction at the level of the Belgian State Secretariat in charge of Science Policy.
According to circles close to the case, the conclusions stumbled especially on the issues related to the ownership of looted objects and their material return.
Indeed, it is specified, restoring ownership, as decided, does not automatically mean returning the work to its country of origin, but should rather be understood in the sense that the Congo becomes legally owner again.
Several avenues are being explored, in particular those consisting of involving Congolese scientists in the field, initiating a dialogue with the authorities of DRC and setting up a commission for the transfer of the objects under optimal conditions.
According to the researchers taking part in the work, the works are subdivided into three categories: pieces of which it is certain that they were acquired illegally, in particular by force after violent confrontation or after looting, works acquired legitimately and those for which no certainty exists.
Since 1970, debates have appeared sporadically to denounce the provenance, the conditions of acquisition and the need to return works of art acquired illegally during colonization, that is between 1885 and 1960 and kept at the Museum of Tervueren, in the Brussels suburbs. .
The Black Lives Matter movement, following the death of the black American George Floyd, suffocated by white police officers, gave a boost to the demands.
Germany, it is recalled, had retroceded to Ghana, at the beginning of the year, a major work of art acquired illegally. ACP / NLT / MKN
