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Restoration work on paintings Allard L'Olivier completed

The Institute recently carried out a restoration project to return the valuable paintings of Belgian artist Allard l'Olivier to their original state. The project was made possible by funding from the King Baudouin Foundation's Léon Courtin-Marcelle Bouché Fund.
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The Institute of Tropical Medicine in Antwerp (ITM) houses an exceptional collection of paintings by Belgian artist Allard L'Olivier. These artworks depict the daily life and culture of the people around Lake Kivu in the 1920s and were created for the 1930 World Expo in Antwerp.

The Institute recently carried out a restoration project to return these valuable paintings to their original state. The project was made possible by funding from the King Baudouin Foundation's Léon Courtin-Marcelle Bouché Fund.

The restoration process involved the cleaning and conservation of the paintings, which had been affected by dust and moisture over time. A restoration team from Altri Tempi cleaned the paintings and removed an older layer of varnish, revealing that the paintings had been previously touched up after being transported from the World's Fair to the Institute. This resulted in some colour differences. The team then applied a new layer of varnish with a slight colour adjustment to harmonise the works. They also applied additional retouching over the varnish to visually repair damage. Applying the retouches on the varnish layer rather than the paint layer preserves the original state of the underlying paintings for future restorations.

These paintings by L'Olivier offer a rare glimpse into the culture of the Kivu region during the colonial period. They were made at a time when Belgium, like many other European powers, owned a colony in Africa and the voices and perspectives of colonised peoples were systematically overlooked.

FALO's works bear witness to a mindset we reject today. It fits a time when the Western way of life and society was considered superior.

The restoration of these paintings provides an opportunity to revisit them, to place them in the historical context in which they were made and to reflect on the impact of colonialism and the value of including diverse voices in the preservation and interpretation of cultural heritage. In the near future, ITM aims to attract contemporary artistic voices from Belgium and partner countries to dialogue with its art collection.

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