Scientific Research
Listed below are all the scientific projects the War Heritage Institute is currently working on.
Panorama of the Yser
The Panorama of the Yser (120 m x 14.5 m over 360°, or 1800 m2) was painted by Belgian artist Alfred Bastien (1873-1955) and his team in 340 days. It was inaugurated on 6 April 1921 in a circular building along the Avenue Lemonnier in Brussels. The canvas depicts the heroic Battle of the Yser, which took place between 16 and 31 October 1914, when the Yser plain was flooded to stop the German advance.
The Battle of the Meuse panorama
The Battle of the Meuse panorama illustrates the fighting on the Meuse in 1914. It shows the Liège area with its hills and forts, the city of Namur in flames in the background, as well as Leffe, the Bayard Rock and Dinant with the burning collegiate church.
The War Heritage Institute collaborated on the web documentary about this piece.
Research project: Congo Panorama
In 2022 the War Heritage Institute and three international partners from the FILM EU consortium (Lusófona University, Portugal; LUCA School of Arts, Belgium and the Institute for Art, Design + Technology, Ireland) launched a project focusing on the Congo Panorama. The study, entitled Decolonizing the Panorama of Congo. A Virtual Heritage Artistic Research (CONGO VR), is managed by the academic partners, and aims to contextualize and reinterpret the virtual reality panorama from the perspective of decolonization.
Research project: CAHN
Some collections in the Historical Gallery, dedicated to Belgian military history in 1830-1914, and in particular the African showcases, have been subjected to inventory control since 1 February 2021. War Heritage Institute scientists and collection staff, the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven and the Royal Museum for Central Africa are examining this unique and important heritage in order to learn more about its origins and history. The study of these objects takes place within the framework of a prestigious and multidisciplinary BRAIN project entitled CAHN, and is sponsored by the Department of Belgian Scientific Policy.