On Saturday, 7 February 2026, the Belgian AfricaMuseum in Tervuren hosted an event to showcase some of the results from its research into the museum’s vast collection. The PROCHE project, as the wide-spanning study is called, dives into the historical context and the modes of acquisition of some 83,000 objects from Congo and Central Africa in the museum’s collection.
As far as historical African objects are concerned, Tervuren’s AfricaMuseum is an institution of worldwide renown. The permanent exhibition gives a good overview of the museum’s overall collection, but only 1% of the items are on show. That doesn’t mean, however, that the remainder of the items doesn’t get used, as it is a vast source of information for researchers, especially – but not solely – those interested in Africa’s rich history.
That being said, the origins of the collections have always been a source of social and political discussions. Over the years, and as those discussions intensified, the need for specialised historical research into the museum’s objects grew. The PROCHE project (PROvenance Research on the Ethnographic Collection – Herkomstonderzoek op de Ethografische collectie), a federal science policy program implemented by the AfricaMuseum, is the answer to that demand.
“The goal of provenance research is to document the entire acquisition process of a cultural good and to contextualise its various historical backgrounds, so that any person or organisation may conduct their own investigations to determine the licit, illicit or indefinable nature of a transaction (e.g., a looting, a theft, a transfer, or a gift). This is a work ‘in progress’ that will be continuously renewed through new data and knowledge. The provenance research project does not aim to determine the legal or moral status of the collections but to compile, index, and analyse available data on the circumstances that led to their registration as cultural heritage of the Belgian federal government”, the AfricaMuseum writes.
Temporary results
From military campaigns to collections, from scientific expeditions to missionaries, from western inhabitants in Congo to art trade, from acquisitions to donations: the museum’s vast collection is known to stem from an almost as vast a number of sources. Due to Belgium’s high involvement with Congo and Central Africa in the past, exchange between the regions was intense, although mainly directed from Africa towards Belgium.
The event at the museum gave an overview of the data researchers have managed to compile so far. With the 83,000 artefacts studied, the project has been able to identify 2,300 people or organisations linked to them. Some 1,000 are connected to just one item, while 123 people are connected to hundreds of objects, and 18 people are linked to more than 1,000 items each. The research is still ongoing, and more results can be expected in the future.
