Belgium's Belgian Congo: The Art of Colonial Extraction

The History of Belgium: A Small Country with a Giant Colonial Legacy — Fexingo History · Oct 1, 2026 · 10m · transcript

While previous episodes have detailed the brutal mechanics of rubber extraction and the economic policies of the Congo Free State, this episode shifts focus to the cultural apparatus of empire. We explore how King Leopold II and later the Belgian state used art, anthropology, and museum curation to justify colonial rule. The conversation centers on Paul du Bois, a Belgian artist and ethnographer whose work in the late 19th century helped construct the myth of the 'noble savage' while simultaneously facilitating the looting of sacred objects like Nkisi figures from the Kuba Kingdom…