In the Absence of Repair

While usually not a great start for research, this chapter was triggered by archival absence: the archives of the colonial Travaux Publics (TP) contained little to no sources on the repair of damaged colonial buildings. Knowing of the rapid rate at which buildings were deteriorating in the Belgian Congo, this absence is even more remarkable. With ample evidence of the occasional heavy storm destroying parts of roofs, for instance, the absence of repair costs in the annual balance of local TP departments struck us as inexplicable. One source, however, did document colonial repair practices: the photographic collection in the Royal Museum for Central Africa. This photographic evidence shows how the repair of colonial buildings heavily relied on indigenous craftsmen, and their building materials and techniques—despite a strong disdain for these materials in colonial discourse. The result of these ad-hoc repair practices was a métissage of colonial architecture, transforming bureaucratic type-buildings into fascinating chimaeric architectures. While it would be tempting to read such repair narratives solely as histories of African agency and situated building knowhow, the photographs as well as the absences of repair in financial sources, remind us of the continuation of forced labour practices until deep in the 1950s these repair practices also relied on.