Objectives:
The Sindika Dokolo Foundation is a cultural foundation headquartered in Luanda, Angola, founded by businessman Sindika Dokolo. The foundation focuses on preservation, promotion and development of Sindika Dokolo’s art collection.
Restitution Measures:
The Foundation’s most publicised restitution effort involved the repatriation of Chokwe mwana pwo and other rare classical masks that were looted from the Dundo Museum during Angola’s civil war. On June 7, 2018, the Foundation held a press conference in Brussels to publicise the return of six belongings to the National Museum of Dundo in northeastern Angola, including a Chokwe Mwana Pwo mask, a chief’s chair, a Chokwe pipe, and several Shinji objects. By 2020, Dokolo and his teams in Brussels and London had successfully tracked down and restituted 15 pieces of cultural heritage. The Foundation’s work represented a significant private initiative in cultural restitution, focusing specifically on returning looted Angolan artifacts to their country of origin. Sindika Dokolo died in 2020 at age 48 in a diving accident, but his foundation’s work highlighted the ongoing challenges of cultural restitution in post-colonial Africa. Much of the resttitution work was conducted through archival research using art historian Marie-Louise Bastin’s publications. Another approach was through confronting current owners with two options: go to court with evidence (reputational damage) or accept payment of original acquisition price (not current market value). There were some plans put in place to launch a database with details and images of all missing artifacts to help identify stolen works.
Framework Limitations:
The work of this initiative was mainly privately funded and largely dependent on Dokolo’s personal wealth. Dokolo and his wife faced serious corruption allegations and had assets frozen in Angola, Portugal and Netherlands, affecting the initative’s credibility. The work also relied on voluntary cooperation and financial settlements rather than legal frameworks.
