MRA - KLM
Royal Museum of Armed Forces and Military History
Photographic Archive
Analogue photographic archive
66 pictures at the moment
2016 - Ongoing
Caught up with an untenable 19th century discourse the Royal Museum for Armed Forces and Military History of Brussels, after the close down and renovation of the Museum of Africa, faces a similar fate. The apologetic vision of war a long with severely political incorrect displays and desperate need of an aesthetic actualization call for this museums revision. Gradual changes have occur during the last two years, with this project I document the gradual changes and states of one of the most horrifying, yet fascinating museums I’ve come across in Europe.
The Royal Museum of the Armed Forces and Military History is a military museum that occupies the two northernmost halls of the historic complex in Cinquantenaire Park in Brussels, Belgium.
The building
In 1875, the Belgian architect Gédéon Bordiau made a proposal to build flats on the site of a former parade ground of the Garde Civique. The location was named “Cinquantenaire” (literally “50th anniversary”) because it was planned to celebrate the half-century since the independence of Belgium in 1830 as an exhibition space.
Temporary structures were erected on the site for the World Fair of 1897, as Bordiau’s work had not been finished. The construction of buildings was put on hold in 1890 for lack of funds and was eventually stopped by the death of the architect in 1904. Work resumed the following year under the direction of French architect Charles Girault and was completed with a new patron, King Leopold II. The triumphal arch that had already been planned was amended and expanded to meet the wishes of the King.
The park is set on the continuation of the Rue de la Loi which starts at the end of the Brussels Park before the royal palace. A fire destroyed the south wing of the building in 1946.
The Collection
The collection originally consisted of a set of exhibits collected by an officer, Louis Leconte. Approximately 900 pieces were brought together; the collection was later heavily enriched by legacies, gifts and exchanges. Leconte was particular in choosing from equipment abandoned by the Germans in 1918.
Today, it is possible to find uniforms, weapons, vehicles and military equipment of a number of periods and countries there.
