Join us in the guided walk to the Congo Monument with Johnny Leya, co-founder of Traumnovelle. The Congo Monument was designed by Thomas Vinçotte in 1910, though only realized after the World War. Central to the monument stands the quote from King Leopold II – in staccato: ‘I undertook the Congo work/in the interest of civilization and for/the good of Belgium.’ It was a fine piece of propaganda for the transfer of the Congo Free State to Belgium in 1908. The monument now disappears for one year behind a silver curtain. The intervention ‘The Grand Opening’ by Traumnovelle is commissioned as part of the initiatives by the Brussels Government on the decolonization of art in public space. The trigger was the Black Lives Matter demonstration in Brussels on June 7, 2020. We hope to learn from Johnny Leya how to deal with our colonial heritage. The intervention also allows us to reconsider the role of architects in the face of such a big political challenge.
Date: Thursday 10 October 2024, 6pm
Meeting point: Congo Monument, Parc de la Cinquantenaire/Jubelpark
The sofa-talk program is part of the Architecture & Activism seminar organized by Gideon Boie and Lieven De Cauter. Poster by Sherman Lam.
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Read more on the Grand Opening in A+ 309. https://www.instagram.com/aplusarchitectureinbelgium/