THE RESEARCH SEMINAR is a core component of the CADES programme. From October to March students carry out research in a group of 11-12 students related to a contemporary topic in the field of anthropology and development, under the guidance of a tutor.

The Africamuseum (Tervuren) has invited us to present the insights of the Research Seminar in the form of an exhibition in the Afropea room of the museum, which tells the stories of the African Diaspora in Belgium.

The main focus of the 2019-2020 seminar is to research, understand and rethink the mechanisms of representation in relation to the histories of people of African diaspora in Flanders, seeking to come to alternative histories and genealogies that question the dominant representations of these past and present histories in contemporary Belgian society.

Students worked in 3 groups and focused on a specific town in Flanders: Aalst, Aarschot and Mechelen. Combining relevant literature with ethnographic fieldwork, the 3 groups were invited to make an exhibition that reflects their understanding of the histories of the research participants they have been working with.