Mu.ZEE explores twentieth century African art

Oostende, 15 December 2015

Mu.ZEE explore l'art africain du XXe siècle

Mu.ZEE, in Oostende, has collaborated with the Royal Museum for Central Africa in Tervuren, both in Belgium, to present “European Ghosts”, until 3 January 2016.

“European Ghosts” examines the Western perception of African art in the twentieth century by exploring documents, texts and, particularly, the first photographs and publications of objects and masks from Africa. More than 45 works have been selected from the collection of the Royal Museum for Central Africa in Tervuren. The museums based their decisions on early reproductions, descriptions and observations made by photographers, writers and ethnographers, as well as upon previous exhibitions about African art.

The exhibition also examines various presentation models and methods of design; from the ‘universal exhibition’ in Brussels in 1897 to the present day. Patrick Wokmeni has photographed masks and objects from the Tervuren collection for European Ghosts. Curator Phillip Van den Bossche, and visual artist Koenraad Dedobbeleer, say that “European Ghosts is about a century of looking and being looked at, the related interpretations and, where necessary, the confrontation of gazes.”