The Institute of the National Museums of Congo' history is related to the colonial past of central Africa, and to the personal will of the Marshal Mobutu Sese Seko when he was the president of the Republic of Zaire (R. D. Congo). Since the beginning of its existence in 1970, its various collections, gathered from the same year by some local pioneers, in collaboration with the Belgian experts from the Royal Museum of central Africa of Tervuren (MRAC), constitute the essence of his cultural inheritance.

Currently, the institute preserves and manages collections, realise scientific researches and offers to the public and to the academic world an important base of knowledge. It wants to be place of cultural convergence consequently, interesting discoveries, of intercultural dialogue. Thus, his role which consists in establishing a real dialogue between the various cultures for the actualization of our contemporary world, is very well fulfilled.

It will have to be announced that the Institute of the National Museums of Congo does not have yet a museum worthy of its name and of its size. These innumerable collections are classified in reserves. This institution presents sets of cultural goods at ends of conservations, study, education and of delight. In that, it is of an interest, insofar as it offers to the public a range of collections, artistic, historical, and scientists objects and techniques and craft industry representing the net of the Congolese culture.

The IMNC is located in the enclosure of the presidential park (Stanley Mount) in the commune of Ngaliema. Since its creation, the institute pursues the goals hereafter: to ensure the protection of its objects and archeological sites which conservation has an public interest from an historic, scientific or artistique point of view. To collect, preserve old and modern cultural productions, to study and diffuse the Congolese culture, to manage the States’s museum institutions belonging to and ensuring their inventories.

On the architectural level, the institute’ services are sheltered in four buildings shelter its services. The first one, painted in white, is the administrative’ one, and the others, are reserved for the engineering departments and the reserves of collections. The walls’s frescos have been done by students in licence of the Academy of Beautiful Arts of Kinshasa.

Its collections vary from one reserve to another and testify the evolution of the Congolese cultural diversity through a large categories and styles of life. Before the operation of inventories which are done in progress, they are estimated at approximately 45.ooo objects. Likely, the fond of the traditional music counts thousand hours of recording - (800 hours of tell, historical fables, proverbs, accounts) and 600 photographic files of contemporary artists.

The principal mode of acquisition consists in ethnographic missions when researchers buy objects, collect music and oral traditions, receive gifts and legacy, some archaeological excavations are done and purchases are carried out on near to the institute at Ngaliema mount of Kinshasa.

The collections in traditional art consist in traditional craft industry, the emblems of the power, the ritual and ceremonial equipment, the household utensils, furniture, the instruments of transactions and exchanges, the communication and musical instruments, the monuments, different weapons.

The collections in contemporary art are composed by fabrics of modern artists in visual arts done in ceramics, beaten metal, stone and chock sculpture. Currently, the IMNC manages a collection of the colonial monuments without any bases from 1971 and 1972. They have been recovered for the handing-over of the political history of the country for the public and they are now the subject of a museum in the open air.

Contact:
INMC Museum,
PO Box 4249,
Parc presidential du montngaliema, Kinshasa,
Democratic Republic of Congo.
Prof. Joseph Ibongo Gilungula,
Tel: +243 998271982
Email:josibongo@yahoo.fr