Expositie van houten meubelen uit Congo op de wereldtentoonstelling te Antwerpen 1894

This photograph captures the exhibit of Congolese wooden furniture at the Antwerp World Fair. Spears pointing upwards recur as a motif in the image; grouped on the right wall and presented as decorative elements, these weapons signal the dominance of the colonizer. We can see that objects originally created and used within a particular cultural context are here stripped of their original symbolic significance and repurposed for display, their presence meant to demonstrate the power and sophistication of the colonizing force. Such appropriation and recontextualization echoes through time and across cultures, from ancient Roman appropriations of Greek sculpture to modern-day museum displays. It reflects a deep-seated psychological need to assert dominance and control through the collection and rearrangement of cultural artifacts. This photograph thus offers a glimpse into the complex interplay of power, cultural memory, and the human psyche.