Whereas the Wereldmuseum has a lease agreement until the end of 2024, it has decided that Sunday 26 November 2023 will be the last day visitors are welcome.
“We will therefore see whether we can challenge this decision legally,” says Carel Verdonschot, who advises the fathers on finances and the future of the Africa Museum.
The outcome might be two museums in the Nijmegen region that both have Africa as overarching theme.
The conflict is one between a traditional and a modern institute.
The Fathers want to maintain an African village and mainly show how rural Africa was and is, whereas the Wereldmuseum thinks this is out-of-date and stereotyping Africans.
The conflict is now also about the division of property: the Wereldmuseum claims that about half of the 8,000 items collection has been acquired under its leadership.
