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Views of the Belgian Congo album
97.R.58
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Contributing Institution:
Special Collections
Title: Views of the Belgian Congo album
Identifier/Call Number: 97.R.58
Identifier/Call Number: /repositories/3/resources/621
Physical Description:
1 album(s)
(185 photographic prints)
Date (inclusive): 1908-1909
Abstract: The album, compiled by an unidentified colonial agent who was in the Belgian Congo
from 1908 to 1909, documents one man's experiences in the region during the first year of the newly-annexed Belgian colony's
existence. The album
records the agent's journey from Antwerp to Matadi and thence up the Congo river to his post at Yoboila (Lomami). The remainder
of the album documents
the agent's daily life, local inhabitants and surroundings.
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Language of Material: Collection material is in French
In original order. Arranged in a single series, Series I. Views of the Belgian Congo
Scope and Content of Collection
The album of 185 gelatin silver prints compiled by an unidentified colonial agent who was in the Belgian Congo from 1908 to
1909, documents one man's
experiences in the region during the first year of the newly-annexed Belgian colony's existence when the violence perpetrated
against the indigenous
Congolese and the ruthless economic exploitation of the country under King Leopold's reign were still prevalent.
The album begins with the agent's journey from Antwerp to Matadi and includes views of Tenerife, Sierra Leone and Leopoldville
(Kinshassa), as well as
scenes depicting the agent and other travelers during the voyage. From Matadi, the album records the agent's journey up the
Congo river to Bosoko and
his installation at his post at Yoboila (Lomami). A trip to Stanleyville (Kisangani) in 1909 is recorded in two views of a
ceremony at the city's
cathedral.
The remainder of the album is primarily dedicated to documenting the agent's daily life and the lives of the Congolese locals
around him. Included are
views of the agent's post and quarters, big game hunting expeditions and slain prey, and images of Tom, the agent's pet leopard
cub. The agent, a
bearded man whose portrait is pasted onto the album's front endpaper, is present in several images. There are numerous portraits
of indigenous peoples,
espcially focusing on Topoke scarification, local chieftains, and warriors. Also included are scenes of village life and life
along the rivers and
waterways, views of dancing and ceremonies, and the "harvesting" of elephant tusks. Several photographs depict chained prisioners
and whippings.
The string-bound album with green percaline covers contains 185 photographic prints on 24 mounts, both recto and verso. Titles
are from the French
captions written below many of the photographs. Titles devised by the cataloger are in square brackets. Also included is one
loose photograph.
Central Africa was largely unexplored by Westerners before Henry Morton Stanley's expedition (1874-1878) to trace the course
of the Congo river.
Excited by Stanley's discoveries, King Leopold II of Belgium, who was anxious to acquire a colony to increase the prestige
and wealth of his young
country, subsequently hired Stanley to help him establish Belgium's interests in the Congo. In 1884 escalating European rivalries
for the region were
resolved when Otto von Bismark convened the Berlin Conference to partition the Congo basin. The country of Belgium declined
to participate in the
colonialization of the area, leaving Leopold to receive Belgium's portion of 905,000 miles - the lion's share of the area
- for himself. Leopold ran the
Congo Free State as a privately controlled corporation with himself as sole shareholder and chairman. His brutal exploitation
of the people and the land
for its rubber, copper, and other mineral resources was exposed by British consular reports and by the European and American
press to great outcry in
the early 1900s, and in 1908 Leopold's private rule ended when the Congo was annexed to the Belgian state. Subsequently renamed
the Belgian Congo, it
remained a Belgian colony until receiving sovereignty in 1960, when it became the Republic of the Congo.
Acquired in 1997.
Open for use by qualified researchers.
Contact
Library Reproductions and
Permissions
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The collection was processed and the finding aid written by Beth Ann Guynn in 2013.
Views of the Belgian Congo album, 1908-1909, The Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles, Accession no. 97.R.58
http://hdl.handle.net/10020/cifa2001m14
The collection was digitized by the repository and the images are available online:
http://hdl.handle.net/10020/97r58
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Scarification (Body marking) -- Congo (Democratic Republic)
Kisangani (Congo) -- Description and travel
Kinshasa (Congo) -- Description and travel
Congo (Democratic Republic) -- Description and travel
Sierra Leone-Description and travel
Topoke (African people)
Congo River -- Description and travel
Big game hunting -- Congo (Democratic Republic)
Tenerife (Canary Islands) -- Description and travel
Photographs, Original
Corporal punishment -- Congo (Democratic Republic)
Photograph albums -- Congo (Democratic Republic) -- 20th century
Gelatin silver prints -- Congo (Democratic Republic) -- 20th century