The Panorama of Congo: Decolonising Heritage Through Artistic Research

Victor  Flores; Leen Engelen; Linda King; Ana David Mendes

doi:10.60543/ijsim.v9i1.9399

Victor Flores Lusófona University, Early Visual Media Lab—CICANT https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1094-0851
Leen Engelen LUCA School of Arts / KU Leuven https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6763-7872
Linda King Institute of Art, Design and Technology (IADT), Dublin https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0558-5592
Ana David Mendes Lusofona University, Early Visual Media Lab—CICANT https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4550-0466

DOI: https://doi.org/10.60543/ijsim.v9i1.9399

Abstract

This article delves into the complexities surrounding the Panorama of Congo, a challenging object of inquiry due to its exceptional size and contentious historical context. Commissioned by the Belgian Ministry of Colonies in 1913 to promote the Belgian Congo, the painting raises critical questions about colonial legacies amidst contemporary debates on decolonisation. Utilising artistic research as a central methodological tool, the FilmEU RIT Congo VR project explores the broader cultural issues hidden within this heritage object. Through a transdisciplinary approach, integrating artistic, media archaeological, and postcolonial perspectives, the research investigates the imperialist implications of immersive media, particularly panoramas, and the role of Virtual Reality in reinterpreting their embedded historical narratives. Highlighting the Congo VR project, the article showcases artistic creations and installations presented in exhibitions, emphasising the convergence of artistic research and decolonial approaches within museum contexts. This research contributes to a nuanced understanding of colonial heritage and its implications for contemporary discourse on cultural representation and memory.

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Author Biographies

Victor Flores, Lusófona University, Early Visual Media Lab—CICANT

Victor Flores is a media researcher, professor and curator whose work foregrounds understudied immersive media heritage through archive research and recent technologies such as Virtual Reality. He is an Associate Professor at Lusofona in Lisbon and is the head of the PhD Program in Media Arts and Communication. As a principal researcher at CICANT, he coordinates the Early Visual Media Lab (https://earlymedialab.ulusofona.pt/) and is the co-PI of the research projects ‘Curiositas: Peeping Before Virtual Reality’ (FCT) and ‘Congo VR. Decolonising the Panorama of Congo: A Virtual Heritage Artistic Research’ (FilmEU RIT— H2020 ). He is the founder and editor-in-chief of the International Conference and Journal on Stereo & Immersive Media (https://revistas.ulusofona.pt/index.php/stereo/issue/archive). His publications include books and articles on immersive media. He is the curator of the 'Catalogue Raisonné of Carlos Relvas's Stereoscopic Photography’. (https://carlosrelvascatalogue.pt).

Leen Engelen, LUCA School of Arts / KU Leuven

Leen Engelen is a film- and media historian at LUCA School of Arts/KU Leuven in Belgium. She published widely on film, media and visual culture in the nineteenth and twentieth century, including immersive media such as panoramas and the Kaiserpanorama. An overview of her publications can be found here: https://www.kuleuven.be/wieiswie/en/person/LeenEngelen . She is currently Principal Investigator (with Victor Flores) of the research project ‘CongoVR. Decolonising the Panorama of Congo: A Virtual Heritage Artistic Research’ (FilmEU RIT - H2020). Leen is currently the president of the International Association for Media and History (www.iamhist.net).

Linda King, Institute of Art, Design and Technology (IADT), Dublin

Linda King is a cultural historian specialising in interdisciplinary research that is frequently public facing, collaborative, and typically combines historical, theoretical and practice-based concerns. She has published widely on design and visual cultural in the context of decolonisation and national identity, including the book Ireland, Design and Visual Culture: Negotiating Modernity, 1922-1992 (2011) as co-editor and subject specialist. She sat on the Board of the National Museum of Ireland (2018-22) and chaired its Strategy and Engagement Committee and is a member of AICA (the International Association of Art Critics).

Ana David Mendes , Lusofona University, Early Visual Media Lab—CICANT

Ana David Mendes is a co-curator of the exhibition Panorama of Congo at MUHNAC and a researcher on the Congo VR project. She is a PhD candidate in Contemporary Art at the University of Coimbra and specialises in Museology. She has a PhD scholarship from FCT— CICANT (Centre for Research in Applied Communication) for the project Curiositas: Peeping Before Virtual Reality. Since 2018, she has been the coordinator and artistic curator of BAG - Galeria Municipal de Arte Contemporânea, part of REPAC. She is the co-founder of m|i|mo — Museum of the Moving Image, where she was the museological, scientific and artistic coordinator until 2017. Ana has developed several innovative exhibitions, such as the interactive project Oficina do Olhar [The Eye Workshop], created in 2010, which aims to mediate museum collection contents through new technologies and stimulate artistic and creative re-imaginings of artefacts.