{"id":52225,"date":"2026-04-17T06:33:42","date_gmt":"2026-04-17T05:33:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ket.brussels\/?p=52225"},"modified":"2026-04-17T06:37:26","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T05:37:26","slug":"at-the-house-of-european-history-postcolonial-asks-what-europe-still-owes-to-its-colonial-past","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ket.brussels\/en\/2026\/04\/17\/at-the-house-of-european-history-postcolonial-asks-what-europe-still-owes-to-its-colonial-past\/","title":{"rendered":"At the House of European History,\u00a0Postcolonial?\u00a0asks what Europe still owes to its colonial past"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

From\u00a018 April 2026 to 14 March 2027, the\u00a0House of European History\u00a0in Brussels presents\u00a0Postcolonial?<\/em>, an exhibition that examines how Europe\u2019s colonial history continues to shape the present. Through original artworks, historical objects and personal testimonies, the show traces the afterlives of empire and asks what \u201cpostcolonial\u201d really means in a Europe still structured by colonial power.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The exhibition begins with the foundations of European colonialism, spanning from the 15th century to 1945, and the forms of resistance developed by colonised and enslaved peoples. It then moves into the era of decolonisation, exploring how European states retained influence even as their empires collapsed, and how independence often came without full liberation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Enfant botaniste\u00a0(gar\u00e7on)<\/strong>, 2024
Acquis en 2024.\u00a0EU, EP, Maison de l\u2019histoire europ\u00e9enne.\u00a0\u00a9 Yinka Shonibare CBE RA<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Europe after empire<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

One of the exhibition\u2019s central questions is deceptively simple: how did the colonial matrix of power survive the formal end of empire? Postcolonial?<\/em> argues that colonial ideas, inequalities and injustices did not disappear with flags and borders, but continued to shape global relations, institutions and everyday life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The second section,\u00a0The end of empire?<\/em>, looks at the ways Europeans maintained control while independence movements intensified and the UN Charter introduced a new human-rights framework. The third,\u00a0Between independence and true freedom<\/em>, turns to the hopes and limits of decolonisation, while the final section,\u00a0And now?<\/em>, examines how racial thinking still underpins structural inequality in education, healthcare, housing, policing and politics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Robe coloniale<\/strong>, 2008
Acquis en 2019.\u00a0EU, EP, Maison de l\u2019histoire europ\u00e9enne. \u00a9 Susan Stockwell<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Personal stories and public dialogue<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Alongside the historical material, the exhibition includes eight filmed personal stories that show how colonialism has shaped, and continues to shape, individual lives. That human dimension matters: it keeps the exhibition from becoming abstract and grounds the discussion in lived experience, memory and inherited struggle.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The museum is also preparing a wider programme of activities focused on dialogue, creativity and inclusive participation. Artists, academics, activists and cultural figures have been invited to co-create events that amplify decolonial voices and expand the exhibition beyond the gallery space.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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