The Story of Ne Kuko

The Story of Ne Kuko follows Mwazulu Diyabanza, a restitution activist, as he attempts to return a looted nkisi from the Africa Museum in Tervuren to its homeland in Boma, Congo. The film reveals the history of the statue, its cultural significance, and the impact of European colonization on African art. Through Mwazulu’s journey, it highlights the urgent need for the restitution of colonial heritage and the deep cultural, spiritual connections tied to these stolen objects.

Director’s statement:
I am a child of two continents. My previous films dealt with the relationship between Africa and Europe, The Story of Ne Kuko too. While making this film, I became even more aware that European museums are theatres of pain where the cultural death of artefacts is materialized. I find it painful and shocking that thousands of objects, which meant so much to another civilization, culture, and faith, have been traded many times over to be eventually exhibited as showpieces in a fancy European museum. Sometimes ​‘legitimately’ acquired within the laws of the time, sometimes violently looted. Displaced and removed from the communities represented in these museums. Traditional values and functions disappeared as they left, and spiritual meaning faded. Even in the memory of the contemporary African.

If Africans want to learn about African art and history, they have to travel to Europe to see traditional African pieces. Imagine having to travel to Kinshasa if you wanted to see art by Dutch masters like Rembrandt or Vermeer. So, you cannot say African art is decolonized if Africans can only admire special historical objects under Western curation and presentation. For me, this brings up issues that were previously addressed in my films, such as cultural misplacement and the search for an existential solution. It is about moral awareness and eventual reconciliation.

It’s about the bigger picture: the recurring suffering of Africa and Europe’s role in it. Indeed, many people from African backgrounds always carry something with them: the loss of their own history. The superiority of Europe and the inferiority of Africa. The fact that so many African objects are still in Europe is a symbolism of mockery. I hope we have reached a point where we begin to see it as immoral when something has been unlawfully taken from the other. That there is no longer a double standard. That the need for recognition and restitution is taken seriously. And the need that future African generations and the diaspora should also be able to feel rooted to their past, and should not have to buy a ticket to a European museum to do so.

In this film, I focused on the story of one African statue: the nkisi of Chief Ne Kuko. By experiencing the real meaning of the image, I hope to create more empathy for the position and perspective of Africa and the diaspora I am part of. Indeed, in my view, images like these are only a small part of the great conflict and centuries of sad history between two continents that needs to be discussed.
- Festus Toll