African Voices
in Restitution

Open Restitution Africa

"Knowledge for Africans by Africans"

Africans are involved in numerous activities that seek to advance the restitution of our belongings and human ancestors. The region in which these activities are undertaken influences what outcome is pursued, the frameworks that apply, who is involved...

We have curated a growing list of African scholars and cultural practitioners actively engaged in restitution. This dynamic directory highlights individuals contributing to the research, advocacy, and practice of restituting cultural heritage to its rightful communities.

We have curated a growing list of African scholars and cultural practitioners actively engaged in restitution. This dynamic directory highlights individuals contributing to the research, advocacy, and practice of restituting cultural heritage to its rightful communities.

Our list is continuously updated to reflect new voices, ongoing projects, and emerging perspectives in the field. If you know of scholars or practitioners who should be included, we welcome your recommendations. 

PodcastsVideosWebinarsReports
Afolasade Adewumi
Amadou-Mahtar M’Bow
Bernard Alexander Mongtgomery Grant (aka Bernie Grant)
Bonaventure Ndikung
Bénédicte Savoy and Felwine Sarr
Charles Taku
Prof. Ciraj Rassool
Donald Deya
Dr. Frezer Getachew Haile
Onyekachi Wambu
Salome Kiwara-Wilson
Vicensia Shule
Dr. Felwine Sarr
Prof. Cassian Magori
Dr. Charles Saanane
Chief Ne Kuko
Prof. Ekpo Eyo
Dr. Emery Effiboley
Dr. Kwame Opoku
Prof. Peju Layiwola
Mobutu Sese Seko
Prince Folarin Shyllon
Princess Marilyn Douala Belll
Prof. (Associate) Kodzo Gavua
Prof. Achille Mbembe
Prof. Wazi Apoh
Prof. Zacharys Anger Gundu
Samba Yonga
Mulenga Mpundu Kapwepwe
Toussaint Kafarhire Murhula
Dr. Akin Ogundiran
Dr. El Hadji Malik Ndiaye
Dr. Njoki Ngumi
Dr. Rudo Sithole
Dr. Yirga Gelaw Woldeyes
Jim Chuchu
Flower Manase
Nana Oforiatta Ayim
Ngaire Blankenberg
Ore Disu
Prof. (Associate) George Abungu
Prof. Sylvester Okwunodu Ogbechie
Faustin Linyekula
Marie-Cécile Zinsou
Eric Otieno Sumba
Eromo Egbejule
Florence Mugarula
Nosmot Gbadamosi
Nosmot Gbadamosi
Stephanie Busari

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Afolasade Adewumi

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Dr Afolasade A. Adewumi is a senior lecturer in the Department of Jurisprudence and International Law, Faculty of Law at the University of Ibadan in Nigeria. Her areas of research include Heritage Law, the Nigerian Legal System and Private International Law. She has a PhD in Cultural Property Law from the University of Ibadan.

Publication Link

RETURN AND RESTITUTION OF CULTURAL PROPERTY IN AFRICAN STATES UNDER THE 1970 UNESCO AND 1995 UNIDROIT CONVENTIONS

Amadou-Mahtar M’Bow

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Amadou-Mahtar M’Bow (20 March 1921 - 24 September 2024) was elected as the first-ever African director general of UNESCO in 1974. In 1978, he made a now-famous speech denouncing the lack of movement on heritage restitution and making a passionate appeal for the return of artefacts and human remains.

Publication Link

Bernard Alexander Mongtgomery Grant (aka Bernie Grant)

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Bernard Alexander Montgomery Grant (17 February 1944 – 8 April 2000) was a British Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament for Tottenham, London, from 1987 to his death in 2000. In 1993 Grant co-founded and chaired the African Reparations Movement (ARM UK) to campaign for the movement for reparations for slavery and racism. ARM UK was formed following the 1993 Abuja Proclamation declared at the First Pan-African Conference on Reparations, in Abuja, Nigeria, convened by the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) and the Nigerian government. Grant's approach to reparations included demands for the return of looted African cultural heritage (such as the Benin Bronzes) and that the British government should financially support those who wanted to return to their country of origin.

Bonaventure Ndikung

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Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung, PhD is a curator, author and biotechnologist, currently serving as Director and chief curator of Haus der Kulturen der Welt (HKW) Berlin, Germany. He founded SAVVY Contemporary in 2009, where he served as the artistic director until 2022. He was the artistic director of Sonsbeek20-24, Arnhem, Netherlands, as well as the 12th and 13th editions of the Bamako Encounters - African Biennale of Photography, Mali. He was guest curator for the Dak’Art biennale in Dakar, Senegal, 2018 and was the Curator-at-large for Documenta 14 in Athens, Greece and Kassel, Germany in 2017. He curated the Finland Pavilion at the Venice Biennale in 2019, together with the Miracle Workers Collective. He is professor in the Spatial Strategies MA program at the Weissensee Academy of Art in Berlin.

Bénédicte Savoy and Felwine Sarr

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Felwine Sarr, together with Benedicte Savoy, developed the groundbreaking report “The Restitution of African Cultural Heritage: Toward a New Relational Ethics” 2018. Felwine Sarr is a humanist, philosopher, economist, and musician and the Anne-Marie Bryan Chair in French and Francophone Studies at Duke University. He is the author of Afrotopia (University of Minnessota Press, 2019, tr. by Drew S. Burk). Sarr taught at the University of Gaston-Berger in Saint Louis, Senegal, where he was previously dean of its Economics and Management department. His research focuses on economic policies, the development economy, econometrics, epistemology, and the history of religious ideas."

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Charles Taku

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Chief Charles A. Taku is the Lead Counsel at the International Criminal Court on the ICC-Situation in Darfus, Northern Uganda and Previously ICC-Situation in Central Africa Republic. Since 1991, he serves as a dedicated advocate for reparations and restitution justice for historic crimes against Africa. He has successfully represented victims of human rights before the United Nations Human Rights Committee in Geneva and the African Court on Human Rights and Peoples' Rights. Chief Taku is also the former President of the ICC Bar Association and a life-member of the Governing Council of the African Bar Association

Contextual Foundations of International Criminal Jurisprudence: Selected Cases an Insider’s Perspective

Prof. Ciraj Rassool

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Ciraj Rassool is Professor of History at the University of the Western Cape and directs its African Programme in Museum and Heritage Studies. He is an Associated Member oft he Global South Studies Center at the University of Cologne and a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Luschan Collection (Berlin).

Restitution versus Repatriation: Terminology and Concepts Matter

Donald Deya

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Don Deya is a highly accomplished legal expert and leader. As CEO of the Pan African Lawyers Union (PALU), he chairs various executive committees, including the Pan African Citizens’ Network (PACIN), the International Coalition for the Responsibility to Protect (ICRtoP), and the Financial Transparency Coalition (FTC). With a wealth of experience, he actively participates in regional and international legal matters, including litigation at the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights (AfCHPR) and the East African Court of Justice (EACJ). His advocacy extends to numerous African and international organizations, such as the African Union, African Development Bank, and the United Nations

Dr. Frezer Getachew Haile

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Dr Frezer Getachew Haile is an experienced communications strategist and foreign policy expert with a decade of experience advising public sector and international organisations in Africa, Europe and Asia. Dr Haile is currently a strategic adviser at Panterra, a boutique consultancy firm, helping clients navigate complicated,  transnational challenges of a political nature, involving policyissues, litigation, investments, elections or major crises. Prior to this, he served as a senior advisor at the Ethiopian Embassy in London, during which time he was responsible for the Ethiopian Government’s work on restitution in the UK and led its negotiations with a variety of UK cultural institutions, including the British Museum, Victoria & Albert Museum and British Library, amongst others. He regularly speaks publicly on issues of heritage and restitution and holds a doctorate in politics and geography from King’s College London.

Onyekachi Wambu

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Onyekachi Wambu is a former newspaper editor and television producer for the BBC and PBS. Currently, he serves as the Executive Director at AFFORD, a charity focused on enhancing the contributions of the African diaspora to Africa's development. His leadership at AFFORD has played a pivotal role in advocating for diaspora engagement in development, resulting in UK and international recognition and the initiation of policies and programs by global institutions. Since 1990, he has been a prominent figure in addressing African cultural heritage issues, particularly related to slavery and colonialism, making high-level presentations to the United Nations and African Union. Onyekachi is an alumnus of the University of Essex and Selwyn College, Cambridge, with extensive publications on Africa and its global diaspora.

Salome Kiwara-Wilson

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Salome Kiwara-Wilson obtained her J.D. in 2013 from the DePaul University College of Law. While in law school, Salome interned at the Field Museum of Natural History, where she worked on NAGPRA research, as well as on intellectual property issues pertaining to objects in the museum's collection. She also interned at the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, where she researched issues in non-profit law and intellectual property law as they affected the Foundation's grant-making capabilities. Salome's senior thesis paper, "Restituting Colonial Plunder: The Case for the Benin Bronzes and Ivories," was published in The DePaul Journal of Art, Technology & Intellectual Property Law, and was awarded first place in the 2012 LCCHP Student Writing Competition.

Restituting Colonial Plunder: The case for the Benin Bronzes and Ivories

Vicensia Shule

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Vicensia Shule is a seasoned creative producer with over 20 years of global experience in film, theatre, and online content. Her current role as a Senior Culture Officer at the African Union Commission places her at the forefront of vital heritage restitution efforts. She is also an Adjunct Professor at the Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology, bringing her wealth of knowledge to academic circles. Vicensia's diverse career spans over 30 academic publications and roles as a consultant, campaign strategist, and analyst in civil service, civil societies, public and private sectors. Her two decades of work include capacity enhancement training in various fields at local, national, regional, and international levels. She has served on boards of significant institutions worldwide.

Dr. Felwine Sarr

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Felwine Sarr, together with Benedicte Savoy, developed the groundbreaking report “The Restitution of African Cultural Heritage: Toward a New Relational Ethics” 2018. Felwine Sarr is a humanist, philosopher, economist, and musician and the Anne-Marie Bryan Chair in French and Francophone Studies at Duke University. He is the author of Afrotopia (University of Minnessota Press, 2019, tr. by Drew S. Burk). Sarr taught at the University of Gaston-Berger in Saint Louis, Senegal, where he was previously dean of its Economics and Management department. His research focuses on economic policies, the development economy, econometrics, epistemology, and the history of religious ideas."

Prof. Cassian Magori

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Professor Cassian Magori is part of the Anatomy Department of St Francis University College of Health and Allied Sciences. In 1998, with the support of Goethe Institut in Dar-es-Salaam, he co-authored a booklet for young readers on natural history, focussing on the discovery and subsequent excavations of dinosaur fossils at Tendaguru hill in Lindi Region of South Eastern Tanzania. It was written in the country’s official language, Kiswahili.

Dr. Charles Saanane

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Dr. Charles Saanane is a founding and Executive Committee member of Eastern African Association for Palaeoanthropologists and Palaeontologists (EAPP). He served the Department of Archaeology and Heritage Studies, University of Dar es Salaam as an academic staff member for over 20 years, and is currently an adjunct fellow in Department of Archaeology and History, University of Dodoma. His areas of specialization include History, Archaeology, and Palaeontology. In 1998, with the support of Goethe Institut in Dar-es-Salaam, he co-authored a booklet for young readers on natural history, focussing on the discovery and subsequent excavations of dinosaur fossils at Tendaguru hill in Lindi Region of South Eastern Tanzania. It was written in the country’s official language, Kiswahili.

Chief Ne Kuko

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A chief, whose village was pillaged and burned by Belgians demanded return of a wooden statue that belonged to Ne Kuko, one of the ‘nine great chiefs of Boma’ in the west of nowadays DR Congo. The statue was brought to Belgium in 1883 by its ‘collector’, Belgian officer Alexandre Delcommune, where it entered the collection of the Royal Museum of Central Africa. When chief Ne Kuko demanded the return of the statue from Delcommune, the latter insisted that the statue belonged to him as ‘booty’. Delcommune agreed to negotiate a ransom at a later date which never took place.

Prof. Ekpo Eyo

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Ekpo Okpo Eyo (8 July 1931 – 28 May 2011) ) is a pre-eminant name to know when looking to understand the intersection of heritage, restitution, independence and society in Africa. was a Nigerian scholar mostly known for his work on the archeology of Nigeria. He worked at the interface of archeology, anthropology, and art history, and he was actively involved in and many years presiding the federal and national agencies of antiquities and museums in Nigeria. He has been described as a 'giant pillar of Nigeria's museums'. Ekpo Eyo served on UNESCO’s Committee on the creation of the Convention on the Illicit Transfer of Cultural Property (1970) and the Preservation of World Cultural Property (1974).

Dr. Emery Effiboley

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Emery Effiboley is an art historian with more than a decade-long experience in African arts. As an A. W. Mellon Postdoctoral Research Fellow, he spent two years (2014-2016) at the Centre for the Creative Arts of Africa (University of the Witwatersrand) in South Africa. He is currently Assistant Professor at Université d’Abomey-Calavi, where he teaches at the undergraduate level. He has also authored several articles and book chapters on African arts from an African perspective.

Dr. Kwame Opoku

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Dr. Kwame Opoku is an unwavering voice in the development and distribution of African knowledge on the subject of restitution in Africa. He was until retirement Legal Adviser at the United Nations Office in Vienna (UNOV) where he subsequently served as Ombudsman. He previously served as Deputy Legal Adviser in the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO). Opoku served as Legal Adviser to the Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women(CEDAW) as well as the Commission on the Status of Women and various Preparatory Committees for UN Conferences such as United Nations Conference for the Promotion of International Co-operation in the Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy (UNPICPUNE), Fourth World Conference on Women, Beijing. Opoku was a member of the experts commission that assisted Bénédicte Savoy and Felwine Sarr to produce the Sarr-Savoy report on restitution.

Prof. Peju Layiwola

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Peju Layiwola is a visual artist and art historian with an active studio practice, as well as a strong commitment to research. She has had several art exhibitions locally and internationally. Her most recent travelling exhibition and edited book, entitled Benin1897.com: Art and the Restitution Question, is an artistic exploration of the Benin/British encounter of 1897. She has published several articles on the visual culture of Nigeria. Presently, she is associate professor and head of the Department of Creative Arts at the University of Lagos, Nigeria where she teaches art history. She follows in the footsteps of her mother, Princess Elizabeth Olowu, daughter of HRM, Oba Akenzua II of Benin, in a career in art, adding art history to her intellectual portfolio during her graduate studies.

Making Meaning from a Fragmented Past: 1897 and the Creative Process

Mobutu Sese Seko

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In the 1970s, the pressure on African nations grew, with the Zairian President Mobutu Sese Seko making the first international request at the UN General Assembly in 1973 – which soon after tabled a  resolution on heritage restitution.

Prince Folarin Shyllon

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The late Prince Folarin Shyllon (23 July 1940 - 13 January 2021) is the most prolific thinker and writer on restitution matters from the continent, dedicating much of his professional life to international work on the matter. He was the foundation Dean of the Faculty of Law at the University of Ibadan. His dedication to the promotion of the protection of cultural heritage and its return to countries of origin was embodied in his tireless work in regional and international organizations. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization acknowledged his unflinching contribution to its work for decades and the progressive development of international cultural heritage law.

Implementation of the 1970 UNESCO Convention by African States: The Failure to Grasp the Nettle

Princess Marilyn Douala Belll

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Princess Marilyn Douala Manga Bell, the great-granddaughter of King Rudolf Douala Manga Bell, executed by German colonial powers in 1910, is deeply engaged in shaping the emerging citizenship of Cameroon, a country not yet 140 years old. She co-founded doual'art in 1991, a contemporary art center designed as a research-action laboratory to explore art's role in societal change and the formation of Cameroonian identity. With a focus on German colonial history in Cameroon, she works on collective memory projects, artifact restitution with the Hamburg Museum, and reimagining heritage and museum roles in Cameroon. She holds a DESS in Socio-Economics of Development from the University of Paris-Nanterre and is self-taught in art.

Prof. (Associate) Kodzo Gavua

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Kodzo Gavua is an archaeologist and ethnographer who holds a PhD and a Master of Arts degrees from the University of Calgary, Canada. He also earned a Master of Arts degree in International Affairs and a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) degree in Archaeology and Philosophy from the University of Ghana. Kodzo serves as an Associate Professor of Archaeology and Heritage Studies at the University of Ghana, Legon, and researches the effects of cross-cultural interactions on Africa’s cultural heritage and economic development. He engages in public archaeology, anthropology of tourism, economic anthropology, art history, material culture studies, and museum studies. Gavua established and coordinates the A.G. Leventis Digital Resource Centre for African Culture at the University of Ghana.

We Need to Intensify Education on Restitution

Prof. Achille Mbembe

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Achille Mbembe is currently Research Professor at WiSER, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa. Today, Achille Mbembe figures as the most renown philosopher, political theorist, and public intellectual of the African continent and won several outstanding prizes. His most important works are: Les jeunes et l’ordre politique en Afrique noire (1985) ; La naissance du maquis dans le Sud-Cameroun (1920-1960); Histoire des usages de la raison en colonie (1996); De la postcolonie. Essai sur l’imagination politique dans l’Afrique contemporaine (2000); Sortir de la grande nuit : Essai sur l’Afrique décolonisée (2003); Critique de la raison nègre (2013); Politique de l’inimitié (2016). Most of his books have been translated into English and German.

The Capacity for Truth: Of “Restitution” in African Systems of Thought

Prof. Wazi Apoh

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Wazi Apoh is Dean of the School of Arts and Associate Professor at the Department of Archaeology and Heritage Studies, University of Ghana. He specializes in the Archaeology of Colonization & Missionization in Togoland; the Archaeology of Gonjaland, Climate Change and Salvage Archaeology; the Archaeology of Slavery in Southeastern Ghana as well as on Issues of Restitution and Repatriation of Colonially Looted African Objects/remains

Mainstreaming the Discourse on Restitution and Repatriation within African History, Heritage Studies and Political Science

Prof. Zacharys Anger Gundu

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Professor Zacharys Anger Gundu teaches archaeology at the Ahmadu Bello University and is a distinguished Senior Fulbright Scholar. He also sat on the Council of the World Archaeological Congress (WAC) between 2013 and 2016 and was Vice President of the Pan African Association of Prehistory and Related Studies from 2014-2018. He also served as the Secretary of the Archaeological Association of Nigeria (AAN) between 198 and 1992 and was President of the Association between 2010 and 2018. He is Editor of the Journal of Nigerian Field Archaeology. He is also a Fellow of the Archaeological Association of Nigeria and a Fellow of the Institute of Management Consultants (Nigeria). Prof. Gundu is currently Pro-Chancellor and Chairman Governing Council of the Benue State University, Makurdi. Nigeria.

Looted Nigerian Heritage – an Interrogatory Discourse around Repatriation

Samba Yonga

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Samba Yonga is a Zambian journalist and media consultant. She has worked a long time as editor for Big Issue Zambia and has written for several other publications. Yonga is the founder of Ku-Atenga Media, a media consultancy firm and was named one of Destiny's "Power of 40" most influential women in Africa in 2017. Yonga began the Narratives of Silenced Voices to research and publish the stories of African women from history. The project was run in conjunction with the Kvinnohistoriskt museum, a women's history museum in Sweden.Together with Zambian activist Mulenga Kapwepwe, Yonga developed the project into the Zambian Museum of Women's History, initially as an online-only offering but with a view to having a physical location to allow display of artefacts collected by the project.

Mulenga Mpundu Kapwepwe

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Mulenga Mpundu Kapwepwe is a Zambian author and co-founder of the Zambian Women's History Museum. She is known for building libraries in Lusaka, Zambia's capital, to help young children educate themselves. Mulenga served as the chairperson of the National Arts Council of Zambia, from 2004 until 2017. She also served as the Patron of a number of associations, including the Women in Visual Arts Association, the Zambian Folk Music and Dance Association, and the Youth For Culture Association. She has been Vice Chairman of the Ukusefya pa Ngwena Cultural Association, Zambia National Visual Arts Council and The Zambia Women Writers Association . Kapwepwe also sits on the Zambia Commission for UNESCO and the Arts Institute of Africa and is the chairperson of the Arterial Network.

Open Restitution Africa, Restitution Dialogues Meets Object Movement Dialogues: Women's History Museum of Zambia

Toussaint Kafarhire Murhula

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Toussaint Kafarhire Murhula, S.J., is a Jesuit priest and academic leader. He currently directs the Centre Arrupe for Research and Training (CARF) and teaches at Universite Loyola du Congo. His extensive background includes working as an Executive Coach for African leaders at the African Union Kofi Annan Public Health Leadership program and leading the African Studies Association of Africa. In 2022, he was chosen to engage with U.S. institutions on restitution by the Ministry of Culture, Art, and Heritage of the DRC. As the President of ASAA, he will host the International Congress of African and African Diaspora Studies (ICAADS) and a pan-Africanist conference in Lubumbashi in October 2023, gathering scholars, artists, activists, and policymakers to discuss critical topics like restitution, repatriation, and restoration. His diverse research interests span democracy, African resource governance, transgenerational justice, and leadership coaching. His contributions to academic networks and editorial boards further underscore his dedication to advancing knowledge and discourse.

Dr. Akin Ogundiran

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Dr. Akin Ogundiran is the Chancellor's Professor and Professor of Africana Studies, Anthropology & History at the University of North Carolina, Charlotte, where he also served as chair of the Africana Studies Department from 2008 to 2018.

Knowledge, Ethics, and Power: Publishing African Objects Without Clear African Provenance

Dr. El Hadji Malik Ndiaye

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El Hadji Malick Ndiaye holds a doctorate in Art History from Université Rennes II. He is also a graduate of the National Institute of Heritage (Paris) and is a former fellow of the National Institute of Art History (Paris). He is a member of the Orientation Committee of Dak’art 2018 and directed its Commission of Encounters and exchanges. He teaches History of Art and Cultural Heritage, collaborates with several journals and participates in various international scientific activities. As a theoretician and curator, his publications deal with modern / contemporary art and global history, cultural policies and African museum institutions.

Musée, Colonisation, et Restitution (The Museum, Colonization, and Restitution)

Dr. Njoki Ngumi

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Dr Njoki Ngumi is a writer and feminist thinker who has held positions in private and public healthcare sectors in Kenya. She is now a member of the Nest, a Kenyan multidisciplinary collective of artists, builders and makers, and the coordinator of learning and development for Africa's first creative economy catalyst fund, HEVA. She takes a special interest in the circumstances and holistic outcomes of youth, women and minorities. She also leads and participates actively in policy making and strategy, media analyses and debates, public education and dialogue, groundwork, pilots and practical interventions across sectors and arenas to make socioeconomic equality and advancement for them a reality.

Open Restitution Africa Webinar with Dr Njoki Ngumi, vol. 1, 4 vols, Restitution Dialogues, 2020

Dr. Rudo Sithole

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Dr. Rudo Sithole is a highly experienced museologist and director in the heritage sector with a passionate focus on African heritage and its restitution. She founded AFRIMUHERE, an association for African museums dedicated to heritage restitution. Dr. Sithole is a key member of the African Union's experts working group on restitution and played a pivotal role in crafting the Common African Position on Restitution. She recently led a comprehensive restitution baseline study across 16 African countries for the Open Society Foundations. Dr. Sithole is an internationally recognized advocate and speaker on African restitution, with extensive experience in directing museums and managing continental museum associations. She holds a PhD, a Master's degree, and BSc degrees in the natural sciences.

Dr. Yirga Gelaw Woldeyes

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Yirga Gelaw Woldeyes is a Senior Lecturer, multidisciplinary researcher and writer. His research focuses on the critical study of development, education and law, and the importance of lived experience and epistemic diversity for decolonial and sustainable futures. His teaching practice is informed by the importance of indigenous knowledges, diverse epistemologies, cultures and critical theories. He also researches on African experiences and Ethiopian traditions, and writes creatively on belonging and diasporic lives.

Repatriation: Why Western Museums should Return African Artefacts

Jim Chuchu

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Jim Chuchu is an interdisciplinary artist whose work spans music, film, photography, and the visual arts. Chuchu's artistic journey is marked by the exploration of identity, culture, and the complexities of the African experience. In 2012, Chuchu co-founded The Nest Collective, serving as co-director until 2021. Concurrently, he co-founded HEVA in 2015, a fund investing in East Africa's creative economy, which has since invested more than $3 million in creative businesses. Chuchu's involvement with the International Inventories Programme (2018-2021) marked another transformative phase in his career. This project, exploring the presence of Kenyan cultural objects in global institutions, led to a deepening of his understanding of the historical injustices that form part of Kenya’s colonial history, and the ongoing systemic challenges faced by Black individuals globally. The project catalogued an inventory of more than 32,000 objects and engaged various publics on urgent debates about object movement and colonial history. His work on this project culminated in his selection as a TED Fellow in 2021, where he delivered the talk: Why are stolen African artefacts still in Western museums? Chuchu's current projects reflect his continued exploration of diverse mediums and themes. He currently serves as Creative Director for African in the Anthropocene, a multimedia project examining how communities across Africa experience and respond to climate change. He is also co-producing Fight for Food, a documentary exploring food production in Kenya, while developing new experimental design work and his second feature film project.

Invisible Inventories: Questioning Kenyan Collections in Western Museums. International Inventories Programme’ (Kwani? and Iwalewa Books, 2021)

Flower Manase

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Flower Manase is the Curator of History at the National Museum of Tanzania (Museum and House of Culture, Dar es Salaam) since 2009. Since 2017, she is part of the Tanzanian team working on Maji Maji war booty collections at the Ethnologisches Museum in Berlin.

Restitution and Repatriation of Objects of Colonial Context. The Status of Debates in Tanzania, Uganda, and Kenya National Museums

Nana Oforiatta Ayim

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Nana Oforiatta Ayim is a writer, filmmaker, and art historian who is a mobilising force in the Presidential Committee on Ghana’s Museums and Cultural Heritage. In her work, she has sought to understand the various relativities of cultural contexts and to give voice to that understanding in a way that speaks to both the actors and communities of that context, as well as the wider world. She is director of the ANO Institute of Arts & Knowledge, through which she has pioneered a pan-African Cultural Encyclopedia, reimagining narratives from across and about the continent; and a Mobile Museums project that travels into communities to collect material culture and exhibits them in those communities to, creating discourse about narratives, memory and value. Ghana announced the Presidential Committee on Ghana’s Museums and Cultural Heritage, a Committee appointed to propose new policies to investigate radical new ways of presenting narratives, as well as engaging communities from across social divides in Ghana, so that they might see themselves properly represented in their museums. Their report is available to the public as of 2021.

Speak Now in Frieze Magazine A New Chapter: Ghana's Museums and Cultural Heritage

Ngaire Blankenberg

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Ngaire Blankenberg, founder of the Institute for Creative Repair, is a forward-thinking leader in the world of arts, culture, and heritage. As former Director of the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art, she championed a vision for a 21st-century Global African Art Museum, emphasizing African philosophies and issues of restitution. With over 20 years of expertise, she’s advised more than 55 cultural projects in 35 cities across the globe, encompassing museums, urban development, archives, community engagement, and decolonization. Ngaire’s work fosters transformation, contributing to more regenerative art ecosystems. She’s co-editor of impactful publications urging museums to play a more vital role in equitable, inclusive cities and offering guidance for cultural institutions navigating the digital age.

Ore Disu

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Ore Disu is the Director of the Pavilion at the Museum of West African Art (MOWAA), overseeing heritage initiatives, research, and exhibitions. With a decade of experience, she has driven programs related to public policy, social enterprises, and the creative economy. Her work spans partnerships with organizations like the Ford Foundation, Goethe Institute, and more. Ore holds degrees in Architecture and Urban Development Practice from prestigious institutions.

Prof. (Associate) George Abungu

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George Abungu is an archaeologist from Kenya, and former director of the National Museums of Kenya. As Chairman of the International Standing Committee on the Traffic of Illicit Antiquities, he has been responsible for the return of stolen artefacts to Kenya and the curtailing of the illegal antiquities trade. Since 2002 he has been the owner and director of Okello Abungu Heritage Consultants.

Universal Museums: New Contestations, New Controversies

Prof. Sylvester Okwunodu Ogbechie

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Professor Sylvester Okwunodu Ogbechie specializes in the arts and visual culture of Africa and its Diasporas, especially in terms of how art history discourses create value for African cultural patrimony in the age of globalization.

How to Bring Africa’s Artifacts Back Home from Europe’s Museums

Faustin Linyekula

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Faustin is a versatile artist and storyteller with a background in dance, choreography, writing, and theatre. Hailing from the Democratic Republic of Congo, they've performed across the globe and received numerous awards, including the 2007 Principal Award from the Prince Claus Fund for Culture and Development and the 2019 Tällberg / Eliasson Global Leadership Prize. In 2001, they returned to their homeland and established Studios Kabako, a unique space that provides comprehensive support to artists, transcending traditional artistic boundaries. Their work extends to community and environmental projects, such as supplying clean water and offering computer literacy workshops in underserved areas. Through their art and initiatives, they foster unity and positive change in communities.

My Body, My Archive

Marie-Cécile Zinsou

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Marie-Cécile Zinsou created in 2005, in Cotonou, the Zinsou Foundation, dedicated to contemporary art – a foundation which she chairs and of which she is the artistic director. In 2013, she opened the Museum of Contemporary Art of Ouidah.

Eric Otieno Sumba

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Eric Otieno is a scholar, writer and facilitator interested in the intersections between social justice, postcolonial politics, the global ‘order’ and contemporary art & culture. He is a PhD candidate at the Department of Development and Postcolonial Studies at the University of Kassel, Germany, following degrees in Sociology/Political Science (B.A., Frankfurt DE) and Global Political Economy (M.A., Kassel & Coimbra-PT). Eric is also part of the decolonial memory-politics project kassel postkolonial, a commentator on various online/print platforms and contributing editor and content creator at GRIOT mag.

The First Reactions to the Report on Restitution of Looted Art

Eromo Egbejule

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Eromo Egbejule is a Nigerian journalist, writer and filmmaker. He is known mostly for his work on the Boko Haram insurgency and other conflicts in West and Central Africa. He is currently Africa Editor at Al Jazeera English Online.

121 Years in Absentia, Tracking the Benin Bronzes

Florence Mugarula

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Florence Mugarula is a senior journalist for the Tanzania Standard Newspaper. He is also a contributor at All Africa.

Nosmot Gbadamosi

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Nosmot Gbadamosi is a multimedia journalist and the writer of Foreign Policy’s weekly Africa Brief. She has reported on human rights, the environment, and sustainable development from across the African continent.

Africa’s Stolen Art Debate Is Frozen in Time

Nosmot Gbadamosi

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Nosmot Gbadamosi is a multimedia journalist and the writer of Foreign Policy’s weekly Africa Brief. She has reported on human rights, the environment, and sustainable development from across the African continent.

Africa’s Stolen Art Debate Is Frozen in Time

Stephanie Busari

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Stephanie Busari is a journalist and editor at CNN Worldwide. She heads up CNN's Nigeria bureau where she pioneered CNN's first digital and multiplatform bureau. In 2017, she was named one of the Most Influential People of African descent in a UN-backed award and in May 2020, she was listed among 25 of the most powerful female journalists in Africa by Women in Journalism Africa.

The African Sculptures Mistaken for Remains of Atlantis

African Voices in Restitution

African Voices in Restitution

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