Database

African Voices in Restitution

"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.

Using the Database

This Airtable table presents a curated list of individuals contributing to the field of cultural restitution, with entries organized by field of practice (e.g., Policy and Legal Framework, History). To navigate the table efficiently, start by using the Field of Practice filter on the left to focus on specific categories.

Each row contains detailed information about an individual, including their Name, Country, Field of Practice, a Brief Description, Published Works, Title of Key Work, Free Access Availability, Hyperlink to the Work, its classification as Academic or Popular, and the Language.You can click on any entry to expand it and view the full content without scrolling.

Use the “View Controls” at the top right of the embedded table to switch layouts or apply additional filters and sorts (e.g., by country, access type, or language).

This tool is especially useful for researchers, educators, and practitioners seeking African thought leaders, and publications on restitution and heritage justice in Africa.

PodcastsVideosWebinarsReports
Afolasade Adewumi
Afolasade Adewumi
Amadou-Mahtar M’Bow
Bernard Alexander Mongtgomery Grant (Bernie Grant)
Bonaventure Ndikung
Charles Taku
Bénédicte Savoy and Felwine Sarr
C.C. Magori and C.B. Saanane
Charles Taku
Ciraj Rasool

Section liking to the Reclaiming Restitution Report

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

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

Amadou-Mahtar M’Bow

In 1974, Amadou-Mahtar M’Bow was elected as the first-ever African director general of UNESCO. 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 (Bernie Grant)

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. The archives of Bernie Grant’s restitution campaign, developed in advance of 1997 as the centenary year of the British sacking and looting of Benin City, are held at London’s Bishopsgate Institute, Benin Bronzes Campaign

Bonaventure Ndikung

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

Charles Taku

Chief Charles A. Taku was appointed lead counsel at the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (UNICTR) in October 1999 and lead counsel at the Special for Sierra Leone in July 2005. In March 2012, Chief Taku represented a client at the ICC in March 2012 and the African Court on Human and People’s Rights. Since 1991, he has been 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.

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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C.C. Magori and C.B. Saanane

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This is a Tanzanian book 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, Swahili.

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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

Ciraj Rasool

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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).

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