DIrectory

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.

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.

Our list is continuously updated to reflect new voices, ongoing projects, and emerging perspectives in the field. If you know of scholars or practitioners who should be included, we welcome your recommendations. 

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Community Activism & Advocacy Icon
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Chao Tayiana Maina

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Artistic Practice Icon
Zoë Chinonso Ene

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Artistic Practice Icon
Minne Atairu

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Sylvie Njobati

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History Icon
Prince Kum’a Ndumbe III

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Molemo Moiloa

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Journalism Icon
Stephanie Busari

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Journalism Icon
Policy & Guidelines Icon
Nosmot Gbadamosi

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Journalism Icon
Policy & Guidelines Icon
Nosmot Gbadamosi

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Journalism Icon
Florence Mugarula

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Eromo Egbejule

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Eric Otieno Sumba

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Marie-Cécile Zinsou

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Faustin Linyekula

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Prof. Sylvester Okwunodu Ogbechie

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Prof. (Associate) George Abungu

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Ore Disu

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Museum Practice Icon
Ngaire Blankenberg

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Museum Practice Icon
Nana Oforiatta Ayim

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Flower Manase

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Jim Chuchu

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Dr. Yirga Gelaw Woldeyes

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Dr. Rudo Sithole

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Dr. Njoki Ngumi

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Museum Practice Icon
Dr. El Hadji Malik Ndiaye

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Dr. Akin Ogundiran

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Toussaint Kafarhire Murhula

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Museum Practice Icon
Mulenga Mpundu Kapwepwe

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Journalism Icon
Samba Yonga

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Prof. Zacharys Anger Gundu

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Prof. Wazi Apoh

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Community Activism & Advocacy Icon
Prof. Achille Mbembe

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Prof. (Associate) Kodzo Gavua

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Princess Marilyn Douala Belll

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Prince Folarin Shyllon

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Mobutu Sese Seko

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Prof. Peju Layiwola

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Dr. Kwame Opoku

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Dr. Emery Effiboley

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Prof. Ekpo Eyo

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  • Advocacy
  • Archives
  • Digital Heritage

Chao Tayiana Maina

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.

Country:

  • Kenya

Field:

  • Advocacy
  • Digital Heritage

Zoë Chinonso Ene

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.

Country:

  • Nigeria
  • United Kingdom

Info:

Published Work: The Replica Project

Field:

  • Arts
  • Digital Heritage

Minne Atairu

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.

Country:

  • Nigeria
  • United States

Info:

Published Work: Benin Bronze Tracker

Field:

  • Activism
  • Arts

Sylvie Njobati

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.

Country:

  • Cameroon

Field:

  • Academia
  • Activism
  • Indigenous Community Leadership

Prince Kum’a Ndumbe III

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.

Country:

  • Cameroon

Info:

Published Work: Restituez à l’Afrique ses objets de culte et d’art! : Reconstituons notre mémoire collective africaine! Douala IVè/Cameroun : Éditions AfricAvenir.

Field:

  • Advocacy
  • Arts
  • Museums

Molemo Moiloa

Molemo Moiloa is the Executive Director of Andani Africa and cofounder at Open Restitution Africa. She also lectures at the University of the Witwatersrand, where she received her Master’s degree in Social Anthropology cum laude. She was an Africa No Filter (ANF) Fellow in 2021. Her study explored how art and artefact restitution are being discussed across the continent. At Andani Africa she is involved in various projects engaging with museum practice. At Open Restitution Africa, she is the research lead. She also co-leads The Ungovernable, an experiment in community practice and ungovernability. Molemo is a Soros Arts Fellow 2023/24, was a Chevening Clore Fellow 2016/17, and winner of a Vita Basadi Award for 2017.

Country:

  • South Africa

Info:

Published Work: Reclaiming Restitution: Centering and Contextualising the African Narrative

Field:

  • Journalism

Stephanie Busari

Stephanie Busari is a journalist and editor at CNN Worldwide. She heads up CNN's Nigeria bureau where she pioneered CNN's first digital and multiplatform bureau. In 2017, she was named one of the Most Influential People of African descent in a UN-backed award and in May 2020, she was listed among 25 of the most powerful female journalists in Africa by Women in Journalism Africa.

Country:

  • Nigeria

Info:

Published Work: The African Sculptures Mistaken for Remains of Atlantis

Field:

  • Journalism
  • Policy

Nosmot Gbadamosi

Nosmot Gbadamosi is a multimedia journalist and the writer of Foreign Policy’s weekly Africa Brief. She has reported on human rights, the environment, and sustainable development from across the African continent.

Info:

Published Work: Africa’s Stolen Art Debate Is Frozen in Time

Language:

  • Nigeria

Field:

  • Journalism
  • Policy

Nosmot Gbadamosi

Nosmot Gbadamosi is a multimedia journalist and the writer of Foreign Policy’s weekly Africa Brief. She has reported on human rights, the environment, and sustainable development from across the African continent.

Country:

  • Nigeria

Info:

Published Work: Africa’s Stolen Art Debate Is Frozen in Time

Field:

  • Journalism

Florence Mugarula

Florence Mugarula is a senior journalist for the Tanzania Standard Newspaper. He is also a contributor at All Africa.

Country:

  • Tanzania

Field:

  • Journalism

Eromo Egbejule

Eromo Egbejule is a Nigerian journalist, writer and filmmaker. He is known mostly for his work on the Boko Haram insurgency and other conflicts in West and Central Africa. He is currently Africa Editor at Al Jazeera English Online.

Country:

  • Nigeria

Info:

Published Work: 121 Years in Absentia, Tracking the Benin Bronzes

Field:

  • Academia
  • Arts

Eric Otieno Sumba

Eric Otieno is a scholar, writer and facilitator interested in the intersections between social justice, postcolonial politics, the global ‘order’ and contemporary art & culture. He is a PhD candidate at the Department of Development and Postcolonial Studies at the University of Kassel, Germany, following degrees in Sociology/Political Science (B.A., Frankfurt DE) and Global Political Economy (M.A., Kassel & Coimbra-PT). Eric is also part of the decolonial memory-politics project kassel postkolonial, a commentator on various online/print platforms and contributing editor and content creator at GRIOT mag.

Country:

  • Germany
  • Kenya

Info:

Published Work: The First Reactions to the Report on Restitution of Looted Art

Field:

  • Arts
  • Museums

Marie-Cécile Zinsou

Marie-Cécile Zinsou created in 2005, in Cotonou, the Zinsou Foundation, dedicated to contemporary art – a foundation which she chairs and of which she is the artistic director. In 2013, she opened the Museum of Contemporary Art of Ouidah.

Country:

  • Benin

Field:

  • Arts

Faustin Linyekula

Faustin is a versatile artist and storyteller with a background in dance, choreography, writing, and theatre. Hailing from the Democratic Republic of Congo, they've performed across the globe and received numerous awards, including the 2007 Principal Award from the Prince Claus Fund for Culture and Development and the 2019 Tällberg / Eliasson Global Leadership Prize. In 2001, they returned to their homeland and established Studios Kabako, a unique space that provides comprehensive support to artists, transcending traditional artistic boundaries. Their work extends to community and environmental projects, such as supplying clean water and offering computer literacy workshops in underserved areas. Through their art and initiatives, they foster unity and positive change in communities.

Country:

  • Democratic Republic of Congo

Info:

Published Work: My Body, My Archive

Field:

  • Academia
  • Arts

Prof. Sylvester Okwunodu Ogbechie

Professor Sylvester Okwunodu Ogbechie specializes in the arts and visual culture of Africa and its Diasporas, especially in terms of how art history discourses create value for African cultural patrimony in the age of globalization.

Info:

Published Work: How to Bring Africa’s Artifacts Back Home from Europe’s Museums

Language:

  • Nigeria
  • United States

Field:

  • Museums

Prof. (Associate) George Abungu

George Abungu is an archaeologist from Kenya, and former director of the National Museums of Kenya. As Chairman of the International Standing Committee on the Traffic of Illicit Antiquities, he has been responsible for the return of stolen artefacts to Kenya and the curtailing of the illegal antiquities trade. Since 2002 he has been the owner and director of Okello Abungu Heritage Consultants.

Country:

  • Kenya

Info:

Published Work: Universal Museums: New Contestations, New Controversies

Field:

  • Museums
  • Policy

Ore Disu

Ore Disu is the Director of the Pavilion at the Museum of West African Art (MOWAA), overseeing heritage initiatives, research, and exhibitions. With a decade of experience, she has driven programs related to public policy, social enterprises, and the creative economy. Her work spans partnerships with organizations like the Ford Foundation, Goethe Institute, and more. Ore holds degrees in Architecture and Urban Development Practice from prestigious institutions.

Country:

  • Nigeria

Field:

  • Advocacy
  • Museums

Ngaire Blankenberg

Ngaire Blankenberg, founder of the Institute for Creative Repair, is a forward-thinking leader in the world of arts, culture, and heritage. As former Director of the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art, she championed a vision for a 21st-century Global African Art Museum, emphasizing African philosophies and issues of restitution. With over 20 years of expertise, she’s advised more than 55 cultural projects in 35 cities across the globe, encompassing museums, urban development, archives, community engagement, and decolonization. Ngaire’s work fosters transformation, contributing to more regenerative art ecosystems. She’s co-editor of impactful publications urging museums to play a more vital role in equitable, inclusive cities and offering guidance for cultural institutions navigating the digital age.

Country:

  • South Africa

Field:

  • Advocacy
  • Arts
  • Museums

Nana Oforiatta Ayim

Nana Oforiatta Ayim is a writer, filmmaker, and art historian who is a mobilising force in the Presidential Committee on Ghana’s Museums and Cultural Heritage. In her work, she has sought to understand the various relativities of cultural contexts and to give voice to that understanding in a way that speaks to both the actors and communities of that context, as well as the wider world. She is director of the ANO Institute of Arts & Knowledge, through which she has pioneered a pan-African Cultural Encyclopedia, reimagining narratives from across and about the continent; and a Mobile Museums project that travels into communities to collect material culture and exhibits them in those communities to, creating discourse about narratives, memory and value. Ghana announced the Presidential Committee on Ghana’s Museums and Cultural Heritage, a Committee appointed to propose new policies to investigate radical new ways of presenting narratives, as well as engaging communities from across social divides in Ghana, so that they might see themselves properly represented in their museums. Their report is available to the public as of 2021.

Country:

  • Ghana

Info:

Published Work: Speak Now in Frieze Magazine A New Chapter: Ghana's Museums and Cultural Heritage

Field:

  • Museums

Flower Manase

Flower Manase is the Curator of History at the National Museum of Tanzania (Museum and House of Culture, Dar es Salaam) since 2009. Since 2017, she is part of the Tanzanian team working on Maji Maji war booty collections at the Ethnologisches Museum in Berlin.

Country:

  • Tanzania

Info:

Published Work: Restitution and Repatriation of Objects of Colonial Context. The Status of Debates in Tanzania, Uganda, and Kenya National Museums

Field:

  • Advocacy
  • Arts

Jim Chuchu

Jim Chuchu is an interdisciplinary artist whose work spans music, film, photography, and the visual arts. Chuchu's artistic journey is marked by the exploration of identity, culture, and the complexities of the African experience. In 2012, Chuchu co-founded The Nest Collective, serving as co-director until 2021. Concurrently, he co-founded HEVA in 2015, a fund investing in East Africa's creative economy, which has since invested more than $3 million in creative businesses. Chuchu's involvement with the International Inventories Programme (2018-2021) marked another transformative phase in his career. This project, exploring the presence of Kenyan cultural objects in global institutions, led to a deepening of his understanding of the historical injustices that form part of Kenya’s colonial history, and the ongoing systemic challenges faced by Black individuals globally. The project catalogued an inventory of more than 32,000 objects and engaged various publics on urgent debates about object movement and colonial history. His work on this project culminated in his selection as a TED Fellow in 2021, where he delivered the talk: Why are stolen African artefacts still in Western museums? Chuchu's current projects reflect his continued exploration of diverse mediums and themes. He currently serves as Creative Director for African in the Anthropocene, a multimedia project examining how communities across Africa experience and respond to climate change. He is also co-producing Fight for Food, a documentary exploring food production in Kenya, while developing new experimental design work and his second feature film project.

Country:

  • Kenya

Info:

Published Work: Invisible Inventories: Questioning Kenyan Collections in Western Museums. International Inventories Programme’ (Kwani? and Iwalewa Books, 2021)

Field:

  • Academia
  • Law

Dr. Yirga Gelaw Woldeyes

Yirga Gelaw Woldeyes is a Senior Lecturer, multidisciplinary researcher and writer. His research focuses on the critical study of development, education and law, and the importance of lived experience and epistemic diversity for decolonial and sustainable futures. His teaching practice is informed by the importance of indigenous knowledges, diverse epistemologies, cultures and critical theories. He also researches on African experiences and Ethiopian traditions, and writes creatively on belonging and diasporic lives.

Country:

  • Ethiopia

Info:

Published Work: Repatriation: Why Western Museums should Return African Artefacts

Field:

  • Advocacy
  • Museums
  • Policy

Dr. Rudo Sithole

Dr. Rudo Sithole is a highly experienced museologist and director in the heritage sector with a passionate focus on African heritage and its restitution. She founded AFRIMUHERE, an association for African museums dedicated to heritage restitution. Dr. Sithole is a key member of the African Union's experts working group on restitution and played a pivotal role in crafting the Common African Position on Restitution. She recently led a comprehensive restitution baseline study across 16 African countries for the Open Society Foundations. Dr. Sithole is an internationally recognized advocate and speaker on African restitution, with extensive experience in directing museums and managing continental museum associations. She holds a PhD, a Master's degree, and BSc degrees in the natural sciences.

Country:

  • Zimbabwe

Field:

  • Activism
  • Advocacy
  • Arts

Dr. Njoki Ngumi

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.

Country:

  • Kenya

Info:

Published Work: Open Restitution Africa Webinar with Dr Njoki Ngumi, vol. 1, 4 vols, Restitution Dialogues, 2020

Field:

  • Academia
  • Arts
  • Museums

Dr. El Hadji Malik Ndiaye

El Hadji Malick Ndiaye holds a doctorate in Art History from Université Rennes II. He is also a graduate of the National Institute of Heritage (Paris) and is a former fellow of the National Institute of Art History (Paris). He is a member of the Orientation Committee of Dak’art 2018 and directed its Commission of Encounters and exchanges. He teaches History of Art and Cultural Heritage, collaborates with several journals and participates in various international scientific activities. As a theoretician and curator, his publications deal with modern / contemporary art and global history, cultural policies and African museum institutions.

Country:

  • Senegal

Info:

Published Work: Musée, Colonisation, et Restitution (The Museum, Colonization, and Restitution)

Field:

  • Academia

Dr. Akin Ogundiran

Dr. Akin Ogundiran is the Chancellor's Professor and Professor of Africana Studies, Anthropology & History at the University of North Carolina, Charlotte, where he also served as chair of the Africana Studies Department from 2008 to 2018.

Country:

  • Nigeria

Info:

Published Work: Knowledge, Ethics, and Power: Publishing African Objects Without Clear African Provenance

Field:

  • Academia
  • Diplomacy

Toussaint Kafarhire Murhula

Toussaint Kafarhire Murhula, S.J., is a Jesuit priest and academic leader. He currently directs the Centre Arrupe for Research and Training (CARF) and teaches at Universite Loyola du Congo. His extensive background includes working as an Executive Coach for African leaders at the African Union Kofi Annan Public Health Leadership program and leading the African Studies Association of Africa. In 2022, he was chosen to engage with U.S. institutions on restitution by the Ministry of Culture, Art, and Heritage of the DRC. As the President of ASAA, he will host the International Congress of African and African Diaspora Studies (ICAADS) and a pan-Africanist conference in Lubumbashi in October 2023, gathering scholars, artists, activists, and policymakers to discuss critical topics like restitution, repatriation, and restoration. His diverse research interests span democracy, African resource governance, transgenerational justice, and leadership coaching. His contributions to academic networks and editorial boards further underscore his dedication to advancing knowledge and discourse.

Country:

  • Democratic Republic of Congo

Field:

  • Activism
  • Digital Heritage
  • Museums

Mulenga Mpundu Kapwepwe

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.

Country:

  • Zambia

Info:

Published Work: Open Restitution Africa, Restitution Dialogues Meets Object Movement Dialogues: Women's History Museum of Zambia

Field:

  • Activism
  • Digital Heritage
  • Journalism

Samba Yonga

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.

Country:

  • Zambia

Field:

  • Academia

Prof. Zacharys Anger Gundu

Professor Zacharys Anger Gundu teaches archaeology at the Ahmadu Bello University and is a distinguished Senior Fulbright Scholar. He also sat on the Council of the World Archaeological Congress (WAC) between 2013 and 2016 and was Vice President of the Pan African Association of Prehistory and Related Studies from 2014-2018. He also served as the Secretary of the Archaeological Association of Nigeria (AAN) between 198 and 1992 and was President of the Association between 2010 and 2018. He is Editor of the Journal of Nigerian Field Archaeology. He is also a Fellow of the Archaeological Association of Nigeria and a Fellow of the Institute of Management Consultants (Nigeria). Prof. Gundu is currently Pro-Chancellor and Chairman Governing Council of the Benue State University, Makurdi. Nigeria.

Country:

  • Nigeria

Info:

Published Work: Looted Nigerian Heritage – an Interrogatory Discourse around Repatriation

Field:

  • Academia

Prof. Wazi Apoh

Wazi Apoh is Dean of the School of Arts and Associate Professor at the Department of Archaeology and Heritage Studies, University of Ghana. He specializes in the Archaeology of Colonization & Missionization in Togoland; the Archaeology of Gonjaland, Climate Change and Salvage Archaeology; the Archaeology of Slavery in Southeastern Ghana as well as on Issues of Restitution and Repatriation of Colonially Looted African Objects/remains

Country:

  • Ghana

Info:

Published Work: Mainstreaming the Discourse on Restitution and Repatriation within African History, Heritage Studies and Political Science

Field:

  • Academia
  • Archives

Prof. Achille Mbembe

Achille Mbembe is currently Research Professor at WiSER, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa. Today, Achille Mbembe figures as the most renown philosopher, political theorist, and public intellectual of the African continent and won several outstanding prizes. His most important works are: Les jeunes et l’ordre politique en Afrique noire (1985) ; La naissance du maquis dans le Sud-Cameroun (1920-1960); Histoire des usages de la raison en colonie (1996); De la postcolonie. Essai sur l’imagination politique dans l’Afrique contemporaine (2000); Sortir de la grande nuit : Essai sur l’Afrique décolonisée (2003); Critique de la raison nègre (2013); Politique de l’inimitié (2016). Most of his books have been translated into English and German.

Country:

  • South Africa

Info:

Published Work: The Capacity for Truth: Of “Restitution” in African Systems of Thought

Field:

  • Academia
  • Advocacy
  • Policy

Prof. (Associate) Kodzo Gavua

Kodzo Gavua is an archaeologist and ethnographer who holds a PhD and a Master of Arts degrees from the University of Calgary, Canada. He also earned a Master of Arts degree in International Affairs and a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) degree in Archaeology and Philosophy from the University of Ghana. Kodzo serves as an Associate Professor of Archaeology and Heritage Studies at the University of Ghana, Legon, and researches the effects of cross-cultural interactions on Africa’s cultural heritage and economic development. He engages in public archaeology, anthropology of tourism, economic anthropology, art history, material culture studies, and museum studies. Gavua established and coordinates the A.G. Leventis Digital Resource Centre for African Culture at the University of Ghana.

Country:

  • Ghana

Info:

Published Work: We Need to Intensify Education on Restitution

Field:

  • Activism
  • Arts
  • Museums

Princess Marilyn Douala Belll

Princess Marilyn Douala Manga Bell, the great-granddaughter of King Rudolf Douala Manga Bell, executed by German colonial powers in 1910, is deeply engaged in shaping the emerging citizenship of Cameroon, a country not yet 140 years old. She co-founded doual'art in 1991, a contemporary art center designed as a research-action laboratory to explore art's role in societal change and the formation of Cameroonian identity. With a focus on German colonial history in Cameroon, she works on collective memory projects, artifact restitution with the Hamburg Museum, and reimagining heritage and museum roles in Cameroon. She holds a DESS in Socio-Economics of Development from the University of Paris-Nanterre and is self-taught in art.

Country:

  • Cameroon

Field:

  • Academia
  • Advocacy
  • Law

Prince Folarin Shyllon

The late Prince Folarin Shyllon (23 July 1940 - 13 January 2021) is the most prolific thinker and writer on restitution matters from the continent, dedicating much of his professional life to international work on the matter. He was the foundation Dean of the Faculty of Law at the University of Ibadan. His dedication to the promotion of the protection of cultural heritage and its return to countries of origin was embodied in his tireless work in regional and international organizations. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization acknowledged his unflinching contribution to its work for decades and the progressive development of international cultural heritage law.

Country:

  • Nigeria

Info:

Published Work: Implementation of the 1970 UNESCO Convention by African States: The Failure to Grasp the Nettle

Field:

  • Advocacy

Mobutu Sese Seko

In the 1970s, the pressure on African nations grew, with the Zairian President Mobutu Sese Seko making the first international request at the UN General Assembly in 1973 – which soon after tabled a  resolution on heritage restitution.

Country:

  • Democratic Republic of Congo

Field:

  • Academia
  • Arts

Prof. Peju Layiwola

Peju Layiwola is a visual artist and art historian with an active studio practice, as well as a strong commitment to research. She has had several art exhibitions locally and internationally. Her most recent travelling exhibition and edited book, entitled Benin1897.com: Art and the Restitution Question, is an artistic exploration of the Benin/British encounter of 1897. She has published several articles on the visual culture of Nigeria. Presently, she is associate professor and head of the Department of Creative Arts at the University of Lagos, Nigeria where she teaches art history. She follows in the footsteps of her mother, Princess Elizabeth Olowu, daughter of HRM, Oba Akenzua II of Benin, in a career in art, adding art history to her intellectual portfolio during her graduate studies.

Country:

  • Nigeria

Info:

Published Work: Making Meaning from a Fragmented Past: 1897 and the Creative Process

Field:

  • Law
  • Policy

Dr. Kwame Opoku

Dr. Kwame Opoku is an unwavering voice in the development and distribution of African knowledge on the subject of restitution in Africa. He was until retirement Legal Adviser at the United Nations Office in Vienna (UNOV) where he subsequently served as Ombudsman. He previously served as Deputy Legal Adviser in the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO). Opoku served as Legal Adviser to the Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women(CEDAW) as well as the Commission on the Status of Women and various Preparatory Committees for UN Conferences such as United Nations Conference for the Promotion of International Co-operation in the Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy (UNPICPUNE), Fourth World Conference on Women, Beijing. Opoku was a member of the experts commission that assisted Bénédicte Savoy and Felwine Sarr to produce the Sarr-Savoy report on restitution.

Country:

  • Ghana

Field:

  • Academia
  • Arts

Dr. Emery Effiboley

Emery Effiboley is an art historian with more than a decade-long experience in African arts. As an A. W. Mellon Postdoctoral Research Fellow, he spent two years (2014-2016) at the Centre for the Creative Arts of Africa (University of the Witwatersrand) in South Africa. He is currently Assistant Professor at Université d’Abomey-Calavi, where he teaches at the undergraduate level. He has also authored several articles and book chapters on African arts from an African perspective.

Country:

  • Benin

Field:

  • Academia
  • Museums
  • Policy

Prof. Ekpo Eyo

Ekpo Okpo Eyo (8 July 1931 – 28 May 2011) ) is a pre-eminant name to know when looking to understand the intersection of heritage, restitution, independence and society in Africa. was a Nigerian scholar mostly known for his work on the archeology of Nigeria. He worked at the interface of archeology, anthropology, and art history, and he was actively involved in and many years presiding the federal and national agencies of antiquities and museums in Nigeria. He has been described as a 'giant pillar of Nigeria's museums'. Ekpo Eyo served on UNESCO’s Committee on the creation of the Convention on the Illicit Transfer of Cultural Property (1970) and the Preservation of World Cultural Property (1974).

Country:

  • Nigeria

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