Research project B2/233/P2/CONteXT (Research action B2)
During the course of the TOCOWO (Tomography of Congolese Wooden Objects) project, a two-year BRAIN funded research project collaboration between the Royal Museum for Central Africa (RMCA) and Ghent University, a selection of the museum’s collection of wooden ethnographic objects travelled to the UGent facilities and were scanned using their X-ray micro tomography scanners. The main objective of the TOCOWO project was to explore this imaging technique as a non-invasive alternative to wood species identification. At the end of the project in 2022, over 120 museum objects were scanned, culminating in complete 3-dimensional renditions of these Congolese heritage objects.
Aside from the insight these scans afford into the wood anatomical structure (enabling an identification of the wood), they also offer a wealth of knowledge that is yet to be explored. Other materials, apart from wood, can be identified, manufacturing processes can be uncovered, deterioration of its material can be mapped out and old conservation treatments can be revealed. In studying the material of the scanned Congolese objects, the CONteXT project aims to add substantial information about the collection housed in the Royal Museum for Central Africa. The scans allow the reconstruction of manufacturing processes, materials used, and traditional practices the objects came across, garnering much needed additional information on their history and original context. The knowledge gained about the 120 studied objects, through the material information of the objects and the oral information of their source communities, can be extrapolated to the larger collection of the museum. Added information about their manufacturing, use and meaning will prove a significant help to the culture and heritage field, adding to scarce or lost information living among the objects’ source communities and possibly supplementing or changing conceptions in (art-) historical and anthropological research fields. In addition, a set of guidelines will be available for the FSI and other heritage institutions, detailing the challenges and benefits involved in building a knowledge exchange network with Central African source communities. The CONteXT project wants to engage both Western heritage researchers, as well as knowledge holders from the objects’ source communities, to discuss when the examination, sampling and visualisation of African objects is necessary and when it should be refined. Does the gained understanding of the material and consequent better preservation of the object outweigh the breach of secrecy inherent to it and its culture? How can we set-up a sustainable and equal collaboration with peoples that are a continent away? Based on contemporary opinions and perspectives, the project hopes to draft guidelines to help future researchers and museums in their decision-making process when contemplating the study of African heritage objects.
The research project will systematically study high-resolution X-ray μCT scans of an unprecedented vast selection of Congolese objects. One of the outcomes will be an article and international presentation detailing the potential of X-ray μCT scanning in the heritage field and specifically in the study of African objects. A resulting protocol will guide heritage researchers in the process of studying and X-raying objects from their collection, detailing the possibilities of visualisation for objects of different materials and proportions. This protocol will consolidate the scientific knowledge, future capacities, and skills necessary for the FSI and other heritage institutions when undertaking future studies including X-ray μCT scanning of wooden heritage objects.
The project aims to conclude its findings in an exhibition at the RMCA, putting the focus on the studied objects themselves, and what we can learn from them: the tree the object was made from, the region and culture it originated from, the damage it has sustained, the treatments it received and what sensitive information the general public is or is not allowed to know; illustrated and made interactive through their scans. In addition, an accessible online database of the scans will be set up, allowing the public to freely travel through the 3D renditions of the objects and to learn about their history, materials, and context.
