Borders, Mobilities and Landscapes. Mapping railway infrastructure in (post)colonial Africa.

This page is part of our exhibition archive. The exhibition took place from 17-03-2022 to 09-04-2022

The exhibition presents research conducted by students at the Department of Architecture and Urban Planning in recent years into the new spatial order that was introduced by the colonial railway network in Africa.

A cartographic analysis follows the trajectories of railway lines that opened the Central African region – from Cape Town (South Africa), Beira (Mozambique), Lobito (Angola), Pointe Noire (Congo-Brazzaville) and Dar-es-Salaam (Tanzania) – and shows how flows of goods and people took place across colonial borders. Two specific railways lines in the former Belgian colony are depicted from another perspective in atlases: The Matadi-Kinshasa connection transformed the existing region into a colonial production landscape, dotted with plantations, factories, labour camps and power stations. The B.C.K. railway line, which connected Port-Francqui to the Katanga mining basins, facilitated the movement of workers and brought about significant demographic shifts that show how the local population responded to the new spatial order.

Curators: Johan Lagae, Robby Fivez

In collaboration with Europalia.

Opening Exhibition (16-03-2022)

• Programme