What's Up With - Een Verzwegen Leven?
Episode description
Eva, Kristof and Reine talk about the intriguing non-fictional book ‘Een Verzwegen Leven’ - ‘A Silenced Life’. A story on the Brussels-based Belgian-Congolese family, Kamanda, healing intergenerational trauma’s and answers to many questions of François Kamanda’s life.
It all started with a black and white photo of a mixed Belgian-Congolese couple in 1942 in Brussels, François and Lucienne’s marital photo.
Eva Kamanda, the great-granddaughter of François Kamanda, starts a quest to her family history. In real Sherlock Holmes’ style, she and her boyfriend Kristof Bohez experience several revelations on how her personal family story is intertwined with Belgium’s national history during the colonial period and the world wars.
Find out how they discover that the famous Brussels painter, Henri Logelain - aka ‘brother of’, portrayed François Kamanda. And why the portrait was kept in the archives of the most famous colonial museum in European history.
Listen to how Eva’s great-grandfather’s life uncovered a part of a silenced Belgian history. And why Eva and Kristof urge the Congolese diaspora to tell and document their own (family) history.
A heartfelt thank you to all the mamies, papies, tantines, tontons and yayas that have contributed to this book by sharing their own lifestories.
Also a special mention for asbl Bakushinta for commemorating Congolese heroes who fought a fight that was never theirs during WWI and WWII.