Kemet: Exhibition or falsification of history? 

What stands out about this video above? This is a video clip from the introduction of Beyoncé’s concert documentary ‘Homecoming’ in which she not only gives an insight into the preparations and the show at Coachella, but also shows personal and intimate moments and feelings. The most striking thing about this music video is how ‘Queen B’ is depicted. She is dressed as the ancient Egyptian queen Nefertiti. She was part of the exhibition ‘Kemet. Egypt in hip-hop, jazz, soul & funk’  at the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden (National Museum of Antiquities) in Leiden as well. This exhibition was on display at the museum from 22 April to 3 October. It searches for the link between people coming from the African diaspora and the meaning of Egypt and Nubia. A lot of commotion has appeared about this exhibition. After the opening of the exhibition, negative noises were heard from Egypt and have denied the Dutch museum access to dig in Sakkara anymore. What is going on?

Through their music, lyrics and visual representations, they convey their connection to the millennia-long history of the region along the Nile River, and claim this history as part of their past, present and future identity, as exemplified by the cultural phenomenon of Afrofuturism. (Rijksmuseum van Oudheden, 2023)

As described above, with this exhibition, the National Museum of Antiquities tried to depict a link between ancient Egypt and Nubia and musicians from the African diaspora. Since the 1950s, several musicians have embraced Egyptian culture as a sign of an ancient African culture according to Africanews. According to the National Museum of Antiquities, this allows expression of healing, empowerment and resistance. This can be seen in song lyrics, album covers and  musicians’ imaginations. For a long time, Egypt was seen as part of the Mediterranean and there was little focus on Egypt as an African culture. Through their music and art, the musicians try to emphasise that there is a link, and thus also try to shape their identity. The museum further explains that the exhibition focused on Eurocentric, Egyptian ánd Afrocentric perspectives in the context of research on Ancient Egypt. The museum does this by looking at black African diaspora communities, such as those in the United States which is reflected in the music being made. Here, for example, prejudices come out in how history is represented.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             Earth, Wind & Fire cover albums, from Pinterest

It’s not only about kind of African Americans taking Egyptian culture, it’s about a very wealthy commercial project that is to say Hollywood and other kind of related industries doing that (Ali Hamdan in Africanews)

Falsification of history, black musicians appropriating Egyptian culture and barring archaeologists from the National Museum of Antiquities in Saqqara. According to Trouw, a Dutch newspaper, these are some of the reactions that have appeared from Egypt about the exhibition. The museum would also be engaging in ‘Afrocentric manipulation’ through this exhibition, according to Trouw. The Egyptian Antiquities Department has sent an email to the museum to clarify this view of the exhibition. 

But why is Afrocentric manipulation being considered? According to Dietz (2011) From a Western perspective, it was difficult to see Egypt as a part of Africa. This was because Egypt has a remarkable civilization. In the eyes of Europeans, this was incompatible with the rest of Africa. In fact, a difference between the Egyptians and the rest of Africa can already be found in a Bible. A reference is made here to the Egyptians being part of the Hamites or the Caucasians. Caucasians are said to be people who are white in black skin (2011: 9-10). Yet some scholars have a different view of the link between Egypt and Africa. For instance, Cheik Anta Diop (1974) suggests that Egyptians were indeed black and Martin Bernal (1991) writes that ancient civilisations in Greece and Europe were influenced by African civilisations (Dietz, 2011:11). 

So, how does decolonization manifest itself today? This example reveals several layers. On the one hand, the museum chooses to link the objects they have with contemporary music by black musicians from the African diaspora. This would represent a decolonization of the collection. But on the other hand, Egypt also shows that it is more complicated than just this, looking at the National Museum of Antiquities. Given the sensitivity of the subject, care must be taken how something is conveyed. The difficulty in this example of decolonisation is the relationship between Egypt and Africa and to what extent they share their history. As can be seen, there are different opinions on this in the theory. So whether the exhibition is actually a falsification of history, depends on who is asked. In any case, what does become clear is that the relationship between Egypt and Africa is complicated. As Dietz (2011) described, the West has long had a particular view of Egypt. I can imagine that with this exhibition too, Egypt felt that Egyptian history is shaped by a Eurocentric view. After all, a Western country, in this case the Netherlands, says something about how Egypt would relate to the rest of Africa while Egypt may have a different view. Thus, there would still be a colonization on information. The museum itself has already indicated that this is therefore not the case. According to the museum, it did not intend to appropriate the history of Egypt, In fact, what they wanted to show in this exhibition was to make the link between black artists and ancient Egypt whereby it becomes more clear why these artists sing or write about it. The exhibition could show interesting perspectives of how to see ancient Egypt through the eyes of the West. The National Museum of Antiquities would also like to use this very exhibition to respond to contemporary discussions.

References:

Bernal, Martin

1991 Black Athena – Afroasiatic roots of classical civilization, Volume II: The archaeological and documentary evidence. New York: Rutgers University Press. 

Dietz, Ton

2011. Silverlining Africa. From images of doom and gloom to glimmers of hope. From places to avoid to places to enjoy. Leiden: Leiden University.

Diop, Cheikh Anta

1974 The African origin of civilisation – Myth and reality. Westport: Lawrence Hill.