Museums
African Voices Archive
Jonathan Weinberg
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Flaubert Taboue Nouaye
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Adson Samwel Ndyanabo
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’Mamokuena Makhema is a director of Morija Museum and Archives. Her passion for decoloniality permeates the approaches and programming that have emerged at the Morija Museum under her leadership. She has numerous outputs on television and in films as a content creator; writer, director and producer. In recent years she has added expertise in the development of human rights advocacy content for Southern African audiences to her repertoire of skills. Makhema holds two master’s degrees; one in Film and Television Studies from Wits School of Arts at the University of Witwatersrand, and another in Gender Studies and International Law from SOAS, University of London. She previously worked as a Lecturer at the Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) Film and Television programme. Makhema continues to actively mentor and teach artists and cultural practitioners in various disciplines.
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Jon Weinberg is the Director of DIJONDESIGN. He is a heritage consultant, designer and project manager. He has a degree in Fine Arts and post-graduate qualifications in African studies, Heritage Studies and Project Management. His work career has spanned 35 years in the arts, design, heritage, exhibition and museum sectors. He established DIJONDESIGN Heritage and Museum Design Consultancy in 2010. He was a co-founder of the renowned Handspring Puppet Company and has held local and international management positions at Iziko Museums of South Africa, Smithsonian Institution, USA, the MTN Science centre and Kagiso Exhibitions and Events. In 2015, he developed the Master Plan for the Lesotho National Museum Project, and subsequently became involved in efforts to have King Moshoeshoe's belongings returned to Lesotho on permanent loan from the British Museum. He accompanied the ambassador for the initial talks with the museum and supported in preparing the paper work for demanding King Moshoeshoe's belongings back.
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'Mats'osane is currently serving the the Ministry of Tourism, Environment and Culture, as the Director of the Department of Culture. She is responsible for overseeing the mandate of the Department of Culture which is to protect both the tangible and intangible heritage of Lesotho for present and future generations, and to work working in partnership with other institutions. She is currently overseeing the development of the Lesotho National Museum and Art Gallery, and the exhibitions that will be displayed there. Matsosane holds a Master’s degree in Museum and Heritage Studies from the University of Pretoria, South Africa. With her background in museum studies, she has had the opportunity to engage in a number of museum and exhibition projects. She facilitated the development of an exhibition at Ha Baroana which showcased rock art paintings. She also worked as a supervisor and coordinator during the development of Thaba Bosiu National Monument (site museum), renowned for its rich cultural heritage.
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Flaubert Taboue Nouaye is a Cameroonian academic, researcher, and curator known for his work on cultural heritage, particularly concerning the Grassfields region. He is the Director/Curator of Musée des Civilisations du Cameroun à Dschang ( Museum of Civilizations Dschang). In this role he has immensely supported the Bamendou chiefdom in creating an inventory of their heritage, which was shared with the community at the ngim nu cultural festival.
Affiliation(s): The Museum of Civilisation (Cameroon)
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Published Work: La sauvegarde et la valorisation du patrimoine culturel au Cameroun
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Olugbile Holloway is the current Director-General of the National Commission for Museums and Monuments (NCMM). He holds a BA in Politics and International Relations from the University of Kent, and an MBA from the University of Buckingham. He also received training in Psychotherapy from the Human Givens College. These learning experience shaped Holloway's profound understanding of human and consumer behavior and how this behavior has the power to shape and influence narratives. He applied this acumen to the advertising and marketing sector, which he served in for over a decade. His appointment to the NCMM is intended to bolster strategy, innovation and excellence. As the newly appointed Director of the NCMM, Holloway oversaw the return of 119 Benin Bronzes from the Netherlands - the largest single return of Benin belongings to date. In 2025, he also entered into a five year agreement with the Oba of Benin, for NCMM to manage returned Benin Bronzes on the Oba's behalf. He is committed to sustainably raising funds through local contributions, and offering support through staffing for royal museums.
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Abba Isa Tijani is a Nigerian Professor of Museology and Anthropology and Director of the SDG Graduate School Performing Sustainability at the University of Maiduguri since February 2025. After an education in Creative Arts, Museum Studies and Anthropology he concluded with a PhD Thesis on Tradition and Modernity – The Gamergu (Malgwa) of North-Eastern Nigeria. Tijani directed the Centre for the Study and Promotion of Cultural Sustainability at the University of Maiduguri from 2016 to 2020, before being appointed Director General/CEO of the National Commission for Museums and Monuments in Abuja, Nigeria (NCMM). During his tenure at NCMM [2020 - 2024] Tijani spearheaded a strategic, non-litigious and diplomatic approach to restitution, which resulted in the repatriation and return of numerous Nigerian belongings from institutions in North America and Europe.
Affiliation(s): National Commission for Museums and Monuments University of Maiduguri University of Hildesheim
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Idle Farah is a primatologist with a Ph.D. from Uppsala University, Sweden. Prior to becoming the Director-General of the National Museums of Kenya (NMK) he was the director of the Institute of Primate Research in Kenya. He is also chairman of the board of the Centre of Heritage Development in Africa (formerly the Programme for Museum Development in Africa - PMDA). Following EU funded upgrades to Nairobi Museum in the mid-2000s, which sought to challenge the notion of Africa's readiness for restitution, Farah diplomatically campaigned for the return of Kenyan belongings from USA and Europe. He announced plans to create an inventory, and allayed Western fears of empty museums by stating that ""only the most important ones must come home"".
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Adson Samwel Ndyanabo is a researcher and cultural heritage expert in the Department of Museums, Monuments and Sites at the National Museum of Tanzania. His research interests focus on managing cultural heritage sites, museums and public archaeology. He is a Lisa Maskell Fellow (Gerda Henkel Foundation), and is currently studying towards his PhD at Stellbosch University. His research topic - Provenance and Restitution of Ethnographic Objects from Southern Tanzania in Linden Museum, Germany: Towards a Restitution Plan.
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Dr. Mikaél Assilkinga is an associate researcher and works as a project researcher (DZK) at the Linden-Museum in Stuttgart. His research interest is in power objects from Cameroon in German museums with a focus on the consequential effect of their translocation in the Cameroonian societies of origin and in Germany. He also deals with the provenance of Cameroonian so-called human remains from the colonial context. He received his doctorate from the Technical University of Berlin and worked from 2021-2024 as a research assistant on the project Reversed History of Collections: Cameroon’s Cultural Heritage in German Museums. He was also selected to participate in the Sensitive Provenance Research Fellowship at the University of Göttingen in 2022/23.
Affiliation(s): Technical University of Berlin
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Published Work: Des « objets de pouvoir » au Cameroun, dépouillés de leur pouvoir en Allemagne ; Misjudged, Missing, Coveted. Objects of Power from Cameroon in Germany
