On December 1, 2013, the Royal Museum for Central Africa (RMCA) in Tervuren, Belgium, closed its doors to allow for a three-year renovation. Several years of planning and preparations preceded this moment, with respect to both the museum building and its projected extensions and to the necessity to develop a new permanent exhibition. The closure of the museum received considerable public attention. Taking the closing events and their press coverage as a starting point, I wish to reflect on the divergence of opinion that exists with respect to what is at stake with the RMCA's renovation project (Fig. 1). In so doing I will pay particular attention to the evolution in the way the institution's collections have been framed in the last two decades. My main argument is that parallel to the development of a new critical thinking in the museum, the RMCA has, in line with global...

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