Description: Authentically African explores how museums in Belgium and Congo shaped ideas of African art, authenticity, and power. Tracing colonial to postcolonial eras, it reveals how cultural heritage, politics, and the art market intertwined in defining Congolese identity and legitimacy.
Review Quotes: "This well-informed book is the result of a careful inquiry carried out 'on the spot' in Congo, Belgium, and North America. ... Authentically African successfully shows how colonial tensions between politics and creativity left their imprint on colonial as well as on postcolonial Congo. ... This book remains a necessary introduction to some key chapters in the rich and complex entrance of arts premiers into world cultural histories."--Jean-Luc Vellut, American Historical Review