Objectives:
It was jointly established by the French and German governments in 2021. Support provenance research projects examining history and circulation of sub-Saharan African cultural objects in French and German institutions. Promote broader understanding of these objects’ cultural history through expert evaluation and project selection. The council’s mandate is explicitly provenance research only. Its role is to fund and evaluate research to clarify histories, while actual restitution decisions remain the legal and political responsibility of the institutions and states holding the objects.
Restitution Measures:
Joint Franco-German funding mechanism for provenance research projects, with evaluation by tripartite council including African experts ensuring inclusive decision-making processes. The tripartite council that evaluates projects is often called the “Franco-German Scientific Council.
Framework Limitations:
Limited to Franco-German institutional scope, research-focused rather than providing direct restitution mechanisms or binding return protocols for identified objects.
