A visit to the African Museum in Brussels...

Got a chance to visit the African museum yesterday. Quite an interesting array of archaeological and contemporary pieces. For those who may not know, there is quite a history between Africa and Belgium, touched off by the colonial efforts of King Leopold; if interested more check out "King Leopold's Ghost", which I am about halfway through right now. Written in english by author Adam Hochschild, this book is difficult to find in Belgium due to it's inflammatory content.
Today a visitor can get a glimpse of the Afro-Belgian relationship simply by strolling the streets of Brussels, as there are quite a number of Congolese immigrants and refugees who have sought a different life here in Europe. Reading about life in Congo is one thing, but hearing first-hand accounts of what life in Congo is like is even more humbling...
The Congolese empire under Belgian King Leopold II's colonial rule and it's resulting diaspora, like many other diasporas, are a living piece of history, as witnessed here and many other places in the world. Some of those places I will get to visit on this trip, and unfortunately a lot of important places are on a waitlist (like Algeria, the Congo, Angola, Burma) for visits at a later (and more stable) date.

This canoe was carved out of one log and was about 15-17 meters long and around 1 meter wide. Who knows how big a tree it was, how long it took to chop down,how long it took to carve, or even how heavy this piece is...? Either way, it's a really big piece of solid wood!
So my time here in Belgium is coming to a close soon; I leave for Venice and the Italian Carnaval in 4 days... Perhaps I'll get another page or two of commentary and photos before I leave Brussels. Until then, bon soir and au revoir...