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Sylvie Njobati is a passionate restitution activist whose work is focused on confronting the colonial to reclaim Africa’s heritage stuck elsewhere in the world. She is also the founder of Sysy House of Fame, an Arts and Culture organization in Cameroon working to empower Africa to an awakening that fosters our ability to reshape our present and the future. As a Pan-Africanist restitution activist, she supports communities in Africa to make their restitution requests for collections looted from Africa in a colonial context. Among her achievement is the recent success in the restitution claim of the Ngonnso from one of the world's most powerful Foundations holding thousands of collections from colonial contexts. This record enters history as it is the first-ever restitution success led by an activist and grassroots organization. Sylvie has a vision for Africa, an informed people with the power to reclaim what was forcefully taken from them and to shape global conversations and actions to their favor. She holds a BSc in Sustainable Development and Management for the ICT University in Cameroon and is looking forward to a master's in Film, Theatre, and Television. When she is not preaching Africa’s renaissance, She is taking photographs, watching and talking about African Football.
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Prince Kum’a Ndumbe III, the founder of AfricAvenir International, is a renowned and dedicated pan-African scholar. He is a prolific author and the legitimate heir to the throne of Lock Priso (Kum’a Mbape), one of the most significant traditional rulers of the coastal peoples of Cameroon (Sawa). His lifelong commitment has been to the revival and critical reassessment of African cultures, the continent’s history, and the preservation of Africa’s historical artefacts and cultural identity. Prinz Kum’a Ndumbe III continues to champion restitution efforts, notably advocating for the return of the Tangue and compiling extensive documentation to support his claims to Lock Priso’s legacy.
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Published Work: Restituez à l’Afrique ses objets de culte et d’art! : Reconstituons notre mémoire collective africaine! Douala IVè/Cameroun : Éditions AfricAvenir.
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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.
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Published Work: Open Restitution Africa Webinar with Dr Njoki Ngumi, vol. 1, 4 vols, Restitution Dialogues, 2020
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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.
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Published Work: Open Restitution Africa, Restitution Dialogues Meets Object Movement Dialogues: Women's History Museum of Zambia
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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.
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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.
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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.
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