In the past decade, global protestations have targeted colonial monuments in former metropoles and settler nations’ public spaces. The contestations denounce the colonial discourse behind the...Show moreIn the past decade, global protestations have targeted colonial monuments in former metropoles and settler nations’ public spaces. The contestations denounce the colonial discourse behind the monuments. This research investigates how colonial monuments produce and perpetuate a colonial discourse in the public space. The research rests on two case studies: a Leopold II statue and a Leopold II bust present in the Brussels’ public space. Gillian Rose’s (2016) Visual Methodologies serves as a methodological basis to address both cases. First, an image analysis based on sites and modalities unravels the various colonial characteristics of the monuments. Second, the discussion reflects how these colonial characteristics support the four pillars of colonial discourse: knowledge, subjectivity, institutions, and practices. The research concludes that the content of the depiction, production context, location, and circulation of the monuments produce and perpetuate the colonial discourse that legitimised the violent colonisation of Congo under Leopold II.Show less
