Museums - Musée de Louvain-la-Neuve

In the heart of the new town of Louvain, created when the University of Louvain split along French and Flemish lines, this museum juxtaposes medieval art with works of tribal art and those of Pablo Picasso.
The collection of traditional African objects was assembled through the initiative of Professor Edouard de Jonghe at the Institut Supérieur de Commerce, where he was teaching a course on the ethnography of the Congo. De Jonghe made an expedition to the Congo in 1909 and brought back an important collection of statuary, masks, and ethnographic objects. Beginning in 1913, the pieces were on exhibit at the Musée d’Ethnographie Congolaise. In 1978, the collection was broken up and some 200 pieces were transferred to Louvain-la-Neuve.
Since then, a selection of these works has been on permanent display. This collection was recently augmented by a gift from Charles Delsemme, which also includes interesting works of Oceanic art.