Digital Restitution and its Discontents

In this recording of a conversation broadcast on Delfina Foundation’s monthly show on Radio Alhara, invited guests Chao Tayiana and Molemo Moilo discuss the subject of the digital restitution of cultural heritage from colonial collections.

Digital restitution is a matter of contention. Offered by some as an amelioration – a step towards the act of physical restitution, it is considered by others as a not-good-enough substitute for the original. In this conversation, Chao and Molemo explore these perspectives and yet seek to go beyond this dichotomy: exploring digital restitution neither a stop-gap, nor as a ghost of the real thing, but rather as a “monster in its own right”.

Their conversation includes a consideration of the presumed neutrality of the digital, as well the remnants of western epistemic notions of order and control of knowledge that are intrinsic to the archive and the act of archiving. Moreover, they will also discuss what digital restitution means to a continent in which access to internet and technology remains highly varied.

To have a conversation about digital restitution is also to have a conversation about digital reformulation.

Listen to the program here:

REPOSTED FROM: Delfina Foundation