Conference: Colonial Violence in Congo colloquium,
05/05
International Colloquium
Colonial Violence in Congo
12-13 MAY 2005
Belgian Association of Africanists
Royal Museum for Central Africa
http://www.africamuseum.be/agenda/Geheugen_colloq12mei
The year 2005 marks the 120th anniversary of the close of
the Berlin Conference, an initiative of Chancellor Bismarck
that led, among other things, to the creation of the Congo
Free State, of which Leopold II would be the sovereign. It
also marks the 45th anniversary of accession to independence
by the Democratic Republic of Congo. The history of this
vast central African territory and its population has been
scarred by 75 years of colonial exploitation. The Royal
Museum for Central Africa chose 2005 as the year in which to
open a large historical exhibition that will put several
aspects of this colonial history into perspective: economic
interests, contacts between cultures, the civilising mission
of Belgium, the development of scientific knowledge, modes
of representation, diffusion of Christianity, and so on. The
Royal Museum for Central Africa is a reputed centre for
knowledge and research on central Africa, while the Belgian
Association of Africanists is a professional association
whose members include researchers working in Belgium and
specialists on Africa, mostly in the field of human
sciences. The Museum and the Association have decided to
join forces to set up an international colloquium that will
address the important topic, often neglected by
historiography, of "colonial violence".
When one mentions "colonial violence", one obviously refers
to complex and varied phenomena that we can hardly address
without a certain apprehension and emotion. It is
nevertheless an exercise that we must accomplish in the most
serene manner, encouraging a debate between qualified
researchers. As witnessed in some recent more or less happy
initiatives in the Belgian and foreign media, it is a debate
long-awaited by a national and international public. Without
pretending to offer the public a program that would
establish with authority the extent and intensity
of "colonial violence," or an exhaustive description of all
its forms, we wish to bring together experts from diverse
horizons to appraise the contemporary knowledge and ongoing
research in this field. A quick glance at the existing
literature and ongoing research reveals that colonial
violence took many forms. It developed at the levels of
politics and economics but could be physical, moral or
symbolic: from usurpation of power to spoliation of goods
and resources, from forced labour to industrial
exploitation, from racism and rejection of indigenous values
to abusive visual and literary representations.
Specialists work on three major periods: that of the Congo
Free State, from 1885 to 1908, that of the Belgian colony
that followed and that which led to independence in June
1960. Some work on the continuities that have existed, or
exist, between certain forms of colonial and pre-colonial
violence as well as on some significant continuums in the
violent exploitation of women and men to obtain natural
resources in colonial and post-colonial periods. If studies
on the economic exploitation and political and military
domination have been more frequent, followed by studies of
indigenous religious movements and their possible
repression, one observes today a diversification of the
research themes. These address the question of violence in
such varied domains as sanitary programs and scientific
research, children colonies or domestic labour. There is
also a vast field of study in the relations between violence
and its forms of representation, be it in popular Congolese
history, Congolese painting, the colonial novel or published
accounts of exploration and adventure.
Programme*
The program can be found on our museum website :
http://www.africamuseum.be/agenda/Geheugen_colloq12mei
as well as the registration form :
http://www.africamuseum.be/agenda/museum/xnews/RegistrationIntCol.pdf
This programme is indicative and may be modified by the
conveners without prior notice in function of unforeseen
events.
Page Editor: Ali B. Ali-Dinar, Ph.D.