Culture & Society
We carry out research on populations from Africa or with African roots, particularly Central Africa.
Our researchers work in various disciplines:
- art history.
- Jacky Maniacky, Head of service
Linguistics, description and comparison of Bantu languages, Bantu linguistic heritage outside Africa (Latin America, USA)
- Bambi Ceuppens, Anthropologist
Congolese popular culture in Congo and Belgium, Congolese diaspora in Belgium, Belgo-Congolese history in Belgium and Congo
- Sabine Bompuku Eyenga-Cornelis, Art Historian
Colonial art in DRC, art and spirituality in Mongo country, tradition and modernity, iconography of Christ and Christianity
- Maud Devos, Linguist
Description and comparison of Bantu languages. Early history of Swahili (Mozambique) and continuing expansion (DR Congo, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi)
- Rémy Jadinon, Ethnomusicologist
Contextualization of Central African music traditions, popular repertoire of Mitsogho ngombi harps in Gabon
- Cristiana Panella, Social anthropologist
Informal and illegal transnational trade, West Africa, Italy, and transnational connections
- Hein Vanhee, Historian
Precolonial and colonial history of Central Africa, interaction of local chiefs with the colonial government and missions
Technical and administrative staff
- Bantu Lexical Reconstructions
With nearly 10,000 entries and counting, Bantu Lexical Reconstructions is the world’s largest lexical database on the Bantu proto-language. Its updates depend directly on developments in comparative linguistics research.
- Comparative Pottery Vocabulary Database
This database offers an extensive collection of pottery vocabulary in the Bantu languages.
- Lexicostatistic study of Bantu languages
Data collected for:
Bastin Y., Coupez A. & Mann M. 1999. Continuity and Divergence in the Bantu languages: perspectives from a lexicostatistic study. Tervuren: Royal Museum for Central Africa.
- Musical instruments
Consult our musical instruments. This entire collection was digitised and published online as part of the MIMO (Musical Instrument Museums Online) project.
- Audio recordings
DEKKMMA, database of the museum’s sound archives.
The regularly updated RMCA Social Sciences and Humanities Documentation Centre (Centre de Documentation en Sciences Humaines et Sociales du MRAC) offers more than 50,000 references to articles and works that have been read and analysed.
- Africana Linguistica
An international peer-reviewed journal.
- Tervuren Series for African Language Documentation and Description
Scientific collection for the dissemination of knowledge on African languages.
- Documents on Social Sciences and Humanities
Works of researchers, inventories and doctoral theses, in open access.