Royal Museum for Central Africa (AfricaMuseum)

Archival fonds / collections: 754

Discover colonial archives

A propaganda museum

The Royal Museum for Central Africa (RMCA) traces its origins to the Brussels World’s Fair of 1897. The colonial section in Tervuren became a permanent museum, which king Leopold II used as a showcase to promote his Congo Free State.
After Belgium took over the colony in 1908, the museum came under the supervision of the Ministry of Colonies: the Museum of Belgian Congo presented Belgians with a positive and one-sided view of colonialism.

A center for colonial sciences

From the start, the museum also conducted scientific research. The colony became a research object for linguists, ethnographers, geographers, botanists, and others. Their disciplines often served colonial domination.

An immense archival collection

The RMCA preserves around 3 linear kilometers of documentary archives. These include records produced by the museum itself, as well as acquisitions and donations. The collection can be divided into three main parts:

The largest is the museum’s own archives, estimated at 2 linear kilometers. They contain documents from the museum direction and departments, including material on scientific expeditions in Africa, acquisitions, and exhibitions.
In addition, the collection holds hundreds of archives of individuals and families. The best known are the Stanley archives, which include letters, travel accounts, and photographs of the journalist-expedition leader Henry Morton Stanley.
Thirdly, dozens of organizations, such as colonial companies, associations of (former) colonials, and colonial institutions, donated their archives to the museum.

Special collections: photographs, maps, films

Over its history, the RMCA has also amassed very large typological collections: around half a million photographs, 3,500 maps, and nearly 1,000 films.

Website

Catalogue

archives@africamuseum.be

Leuvensesteenweg 13

3080 Tervuren

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