Legal perspectives on dealing with Belgium’s colonial heritage

de Clippele, Marie-Sophie [USL-B]

Heritage conservation requires that the State protects cultural identities of its entire population, for the past, present and future. But the State could draw its heritage policy and regulation in a way that serves its own political, ideological or religious agenda, by consciously or unconsciously erasing pages of its history or overplaying others. This becomes particularly problematic when cultural minorities have no voice or when the multiple facets of a cultural identity – which has become much more complex and diverse than the national identity intended by 19th century nation-states – are not heard. Belgium’s colonial heritage offers a striking example of the complexity of such a task: make sure to adopt the ‘right’ approach to deal with contested heritage. After briefly analysing the existing legal framework for cultural heritage in Belgium and examining potential risks of a heavy State-controlled heritage policy, this paper will also look how certain Belgian lawmakers think of the right way to deal with this darker part of our history. At this current time, political intervention (and some form of regulation) on colonial heritage is taking place in two main areas: the restitution of colonial collections and the decolonization of colonial symbols in the public space.