Placide Mumbele Sanger

Biographie

Placide Mumbele Sanger is a Professor of Museum Studies at the University of Kinshasa. He holds a PhD in Political and Social Sciences from the Université libre de Bruxelles, where in 2015 he defended a doctoral thesis titled Les musées, témoins de la politique culturelle, de l’époque coloniale à nos jours, en République démocratique du Congo. His research focuses on museums and cultural heritage in African (post)colonial contexts, especially issues around provenance research, cultural policy, and the restitution of cultural property. In addition to his academic work, he has held leadership roles in cultural institutions, including serving as Director General of the Institut des Musées Nationaux du Congo (IMNC) until 2022. His current research examines the entangled histories of Congolese collections in European museums and the political, ethical, and institutional dimensions of restitution between Belgium and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He has also participated in international lecture series and residencies, including provenance research on Yaka masks at the AfricaMuseum in Tervuren (2021–22), and presented on long‑term histories of cultural return at venues such as the musée du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac.

Recent publications

Mumbembele Sanger, Placide (2023). “L’art de la polémique: Tervuren‑Kinshasa, 1930‑2022.” Cahiers d’Études Africaines, 251‑252, 911‑928; Mumbembele Sanger, Placide (2022).

“A Long‑Term Perspective on the Issue of the Return of Congolese Cultural Objects: Entangled Relations between Kinshasa and Tervuren (1930‑80).” In F. Bodenstein, D. Otoiu & E.‑M.

Troelenberg (Eds.), Contested Holdings: Museum Collections in Political, Epistemic and Artistic Processes of Return (Vol. 14, pp. 139‑162). Berghahn; Mumbembele Sanger, Placide (2020).

“Iconoclasm and the Restitution of African Cultural Heritage: What Role for the Communities of Owners?” HAU: Journal of Ethnographic Theory, 10(3).