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Dr. Martin Donlefack is a historian of civilisations and religions. He has been deeply involved in his community’s efforts to restitute their Tukah Mask over the last 7 years, as Chairman of the Technical Organising Committee for the ngim nu cultural festival, author of the “La sculpture africaine du visible à l’invisible : les enseignements du tukah des Bamendou au Cameroun”, and representative of the Bamendou community at the Cameroon Cultural Season in 2022.
Affiliation(s): University of Yaoundé I (Université de Yaoundé I)
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Published Work: La sculpture africaine du visible à l'invisible: Les enseignements du tukah des Bamendou au Cameroun
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Wandile Goozen Kasibe is a South African sociologist, museologist, visual artist, and former politician specializing in the decolonization of heritage institutions and the social construction of race. When studying towards his PhD in Sociology he gained prominence through his participation in the Rhodes Must Fall and Fees Must Fall student movements at the University of Cape Town, which sought to dismantle colonial symbols and address institutional racism and tuition barriers via protests and activism. While recognized for advancing decolonial perspectives in museology, Kasibe's advocacy has intersected with broader debates on cultural repatriation and ideological critiques of Western institutions, often emphasizing empirical challenges to historical narratives embedded in collections. He currently serves as the Director of Living Heritage in South Africa's Department of Sport, Arts and Culture.
Affiliation(s): Department of Sport, Arts and Culture (South Africa) University of Cape Town
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Published Work: Museums and the construction of race ideologies: the case of natural history and ethnographic museums in South Africa
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Mnyaka Sururu Mboro is a Tanzanian activist, co-founder of the NGO Berlin Postkolonial. He has been actively campaigning for the acknowledgment of German colonialism in the public sphere since the 1980s. He leads guided tours through the so-called “African Quarter” in Berlin and is board member of the NGO Decolonize Berlin.
Affiliation(s): Berlin Postkolonial
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Published Work: Conversation: Subverting Firepower: A German Cartridge Upcycled as Snuffbox, a Symbol of Chagga Resistance (In Fifteen Colonial Thefts: A Guide to Looted African Heritage in Museums)
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Anthony Kalume is an accomplished professional with extensive experience in the fields of community engagement, curating, and heritage. Currently serving as the Director of the Culture Connect Project, he also chairs the Diversity Lewes community group, where he works to foster inclusion and cultural awareness. Kalume also serves as the Chief Negotiator for Vigango (funerary statues belonging to the Mijikenda Community in Mombasa, Kenya), and is a key member of Vigango Resting Place Project. His work specializes in the decolonization and repatriation of contested objects, particularly in relation to East African textiles. A published author, Kalume is a recognized expert in his field, committed to making meaningful contributions to cultural heritage and community development.
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Mati Diop is a celebrated French-Senegalese director and actress known for her distinct, spectral, and politically charged cinema. She won the 2024 Golden Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival for Dahomey, a documentary exploring the repatriation of 26 royal treasures to Benin. Diop often examines colonial history, identity, and memory.
Affiliation(s): Fanta Sy
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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.
Affiliation(s): Sysy House of Fame, REGARTLESS
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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.
Affiliation(s): AfricAvenir International
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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.
Affiliation(s): The Nest Collective, HEVA, Invisible Inventories Programme
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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 Women's History Museum of Zambia. 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.
Affiliation(s): Women's History Museum of Zambia, UNESCO, Arts Institute of Africa, Arterial Network
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Published Work: Open Restitution Africa Webinar with Mulenga Kapwepwe & Samba Yonga, vol. 2, 4 vols, Restitution Dialogues, 2020 , Zambia
