In March 2025, University of the Western Cape’s Iyatsiba Lab hosted the Restitution in Practice: From Policy to Activation Baraza convening, jointly organised by UWC’s Department of Historical Studies and Open Restitution Africa (ORA). Heritage practitioners, museum professionals, activists, scholars and community leaders gathered to move restitution from policy statement to practical action.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzvVfAtY94o&t=1s
Across the discussions, a shared conviction took shape: restitution is not a single transaction but an ongoing process of justice, requiring new tools, new alliances, and new ways of thinking. Several key themes captured this shift in perspective:
- Beyond repatriation: Physical return is only a first step. Museum “objects” and human remains must be recognised as living belongings and ancestors requiring proper cultural and spiritual restoration.
- Knowledge genocide: Colonial plunder severed intergenerational memory; community-led provenance research, not inaccessible European databases, is essential to recovery.
- Claims-based data: ORA advocates shifting from costly external inventories to community-driven “inside-out” databases prioritising what communities know they have lost.
- State–community tensions: Restitution requires collaboration between governments and traditional authorities, not top-down diplomacy alone.
- Policy gaps: Bureaucratic roadblocks highlight the need for decolonised legal frameworks.
- Pan-African solidarity: Proposals included a coordinated “Counter-Intelligence
Ultimately, the Baraza Convening affirms that restitution cannot be reduced to a transaction. It is a shared, ongoing journey of justice, healing and rehumanisation. By centring community knowledge, decolonising bureaucratic and legal frameworks, and building pan-African solidarity, stakeholders can move restitution from policy commitment to lived reality. For readers, this resource offers not just a record of what was discussed, but a practical starting point for reimagining how restitution is claimed, coordinated and realised across the continent.
