If I had to guide a foreigner round Belgium in 3 days, 'THE ROYAL MUSEUM FOR CENTRAL AFRICA' near Brussels would be on top of my list. This grand p(a)lace came into being following the World Fair of 1897. Its collection of ethnographic objects from Central Africa is in fact the only one of its kind in the world.

The permanent exhibition still reflects the way Europe regarded Africa in the nineteen-sixties with all its exotica and colonial propaganda. It's a wonderful place for kids since there are many rooms with huge stuffed animals, African masks and instruments. Here, I can still feel the excitement I felt as a teenager when looking to old Johnny Weismuller Tarzan movies at my grandfather's place on Sunday afternoons.

Because of a radically altered social context not only in Africa but in Europe as well, the museum is now undergoing a metamorphosis that will be complete in 2010. For the occasion of the 175th Anniversary of Belgium's Independence, a temporary exhibit called 'Memory of Congo - The Colonial Era' offers a new look at the colonial past in which not only the European, but also the African players take their part. The exhibition is flawless; intriguing and revealing.

In the museum's cafeteria 'Simba', I always go for a Congolese Mongozo beer (alright, brewed in Belgium but what the heck). Yesterday, I bumped into Nick Cave at the bar. He was scheduled to headline a big rock festival that night. If he was searching for inspiration, he sure did come to the right place! After all these years, 'The Royal Museum for Central Africa' is still a stupendous place that keeps on enchanting its visitors.