In the Democratic Republic of Congo, the National Museum is inaugurated in Kinshasa this Saturday, November 23. Hundreds of works, which trace the history of the Congolese people in their current and ancient environment, will be displayed there, according to officials.

After three years of construction work, it is Congolese President Félix Tshisekedi who will open this museum to the public, a product of cooperation between Kinshasa and Seoul. The overall cost of the work amounts to 21 million dollars, released by the South Korean government. The new museum, which aspires to be national, was erected on the Boulevard Triomphal, next to the Protestant Centenary Cathedral.

Henry Bondjoko, museum director, presents the collections of over 400 works including statuettes and masks in wood or metal distributed across three rooms: "The first room is the room for musical instruments and communication. The second room speaks to man facing the challenge of existence so that Congolese people can reclaim their own culture."

Welcoming young people

The museum removes its visitors from the hustle and bustle of Kinshasa in an imposing architecture between tradition and modernity. Jean-Pierre Dikaka, head of educational services, describes how it was conceived: "What is special here is first the architecture, which reminds us of how we built our houses, our huts, our villages, which we tried to adapt to modernism."

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The museum does not only host an exhibition space. It offers a library to its visitors, a conference room and a multimedia space. In addition to tourists and culture enthusiasts, it especially hopes to be frequented by the school public: "We need to work more with this youth. They must know their heritage. For the others, we approach them with more caution because these adults, today, with problems related to religion, describe everything that is cultural heritage as witchcraft."

The 400 works on display were selected from the 12,000 provided by the National Institute of Museums (INMC). For now, the authorities have not addressed the burning issue of the restitution of Congolese cultural property looted by the former colonial power, Belgium.