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Chao Tayiana Maina is a Kenyan historian and digital heritage specialist with a unique expertise at the intersection of memory, digital humanities, and public education. Leveraging a background in computing and a specialisation in heritage studies, her work is dedicated to exploring and excavating African histories, while simultaneously building and enhancing the infrastructure needed for the preservation and dissemination of these vital pasts. She is founder of African Digital Heritage, co-founder of the Museum of British Colonialism, and co-founder of the Open Restitution Africa project. She is a fellow at Yale University’s Institute of Cultural Heritage Preservation and was selected as a public historian in residence at the University of Luxembourg’s Centre for Contemporary and Digital History.
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Zoë Chinonso Ene is a designer, design researcher, and experienced daydreamer trained in Industrial Design and working as a Sr. UX designer at Microsoft. As a Ph.D. candidate at the Royal College of Art’s School of Design, she researches heritage engagement methods in and for design/making processes within the Nigerian context, using Igbo historical material and creative culture as a starting point. Through her award-winning design studio and research collective, Homenkà, she explores an approach for creating and co-creating new objects and experiences that honor the historical past by synthesizing with the present to materially continue culture in the Nigerian context. Her latest ongoing research study, The Replica Project (TRP), blends photogrammetry, replication, and the design process to investigate questions of our proximity to heritage, with one of them being: In what other ways can repatriated or displayed objects in African museum archives find new life? By exploring the exact replication of a historical object steeped in a rich cultural context that makers can have direct access to, Zoë plans to observe and record the methods and ideas generated through proximal engagement and start a conversation with the creative community and public about stepping “beyond the museum glass” to encounter material history tangibly, playfully, and with more agency. TRP explores the untapped value of historical material culture within archives and by using replication to encourage proximal engagement for designers and makers who create the things we interact with daily.
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Published Work: The Replica Project
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Minne Atairu is an interdisciplinary artist and doctoral student in Art and Art Education at Columbia University. Her academic research emerges at the intersection of Artificial Intelligence, Art/Museum Education and hip-hop-based education. Her ongoing project, Igùn, investigates a 17-year Artistic Absence [1897-1914] in the Benin Kingdom following the 1897 Benin invasion. Minne appeared on Open Restitution Africa's podcast, Episode 2: Digital Collections (Part II). This project is an online index of de-installed, repatriated and yet-to-be-repatriated Benin Bronzes. The list dates back to 2014 and will always be in progress. All entry descriptions are excerpts from existing text entries on the related website.
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Published Work: Benin Bronze Tracker
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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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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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Chao Tayiana Maina is a Kenyan historian and digital heritage specialist with a unique expertise at the intersection of memory, digital humanities, and public education. Leveraging a background in computing and a specialisation in heritage studies, her work is dedicated to exploring and excavating African histories, while simultaneously building and enhancing the infrastructure needed for the preservation and dissemination of these vital pasts. She is founder of African Digital Heritage, co-founder of the Museum of British Colonialism, and co-founder of the Open Restitution Africa project. She is a fellow at Yale University’s Institute of Cultural Heritage Preservation and was selected as a public historian in residence at the University of Luxembourg’s Centre for Contemporary and Digital History.
