Centre de Recherches Culturelles Africanistes
What & Who
CENTRE ÆQUATORIA
Centre de Recherches Culturelles Africanistes
What & Who
The Centre Æquatoria is a research center, library, and collection of archives, annex guesthouse,
specialized in the languages, cultures, and the (pre-colonial and colonial) history of sub-Saharan Africa, with
special emphasis on the peoples of the central Congo basin. It also produces a yearly africanist periodical, called
'Annales Æquatoria'. It is located on the premises of the Catholic mission station of the Missionaries of
the Sacred Heart (Missionnaires du Sacré-Coeur, MSC) at Bamanya, a village some 10 kms out of Mbandaka,
the capital city of the Equateur Province in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The current staff of the Centre Æquatoria consists of
Honoré Vinck (bibliography)
G.I. Essalo, Librarian and archivist.
See also: the editorial board of the journal Annales Æquatoria.
The history of the Centre Æquatoria began, strictly speaking, at its foundation in 1979-1980, but its origins date back to 1937. In that year, Fathers Edmond Boelaert (1899-1966) and Gustaaf Hulstaert (1900-1990), two Belgian MSC missionaries, founded the africanist periodical 'Æquatoria', which put emphasis on the linguistic, cultural, and historical particularities of the Mongo peoples of the central Congo basin, as well as on those of neighboring populations. Social consequences entailed by the imposition of colonial rule, jurisdiction, and education, and by the introduction of Christianity, also figured among 'Æquatoria''s main topics of discussion. The periodical 'Æquatoria' was ceased in 1962, but in 1979-1980 Fathers André Claessens and Honoré Vinck (both MSC) revived it under the new name 'Annales Æquatoria'. In that context, they brought together all the documentation, papers, library items, maps, and other materials the founding fathers had accumulated during 50 years, and reorganized them. Since 1987, this cultural and scientific patrimony has been sheltered in a new, publicly accessible location, the Centre Æquatoria. Click here for more texts on the Centre Æquatoria's history and ideology.
The library of the Centre Æquatoria holds a comprehensive collection of monographs and periodicals, including some of the oldest and rarest items, all related to the africanist fields mentioned above. It contains around 8,000 books in European languages, together with the complete sets of the major africanist series. It also contains 252 ceased (about 3,500 volumes) and 60 current periodicals. With regard to publications in African languages as well, the library represents a unique collection of sometimes very rare volumes. Over the years, Father Hulstaert collected all the publications (schoolbooks, Church literature, and local periodicals) in African languages that were available to him. The schoolbook collection contains over 500 items in which 35 languages are represented. Library items can be consulted free of charge at the Centre Æquatoria. For practical reasons, items cannot be loaned or taken out of the Centre.
Until 1998, the Centre Æquatoria regularly organized scholarly events on its own premises, such as workshops, colloquia, 'weekends scientifiques', summer schools, and others, inviting scholars from Congolese universities/colleges and from abroad to discuss africanist matters.
The Centre Æquatoria has a guesthouse for use by junior and senior researchers from Congo and abroad, who wish to work in the library and/or archives, or who want to do fieldwork in the area. In times of peace, Bamanya offers a pleasant rural environment, providing an ideal location for study, contemplation, and research. The guesthouse can be booked for any period of time, for a very low charge covering basic expenses. For more information, contact the Centre Æquatoria.