Dr Winani Thebele
Champ:
Emplacement:
Dr. Winani Thebele is a seasoned museum professional, curator and scholar. She offered her skills and knowledge to the Botswana National Museum for 34 years and retired from her role as Chief Curator and the Head of the Ethnology Division in June 2023. Throughout her tenure at the museum, Winani participated in global, regional and local debates and training around colonial collections – with an emphasis on African diasporic collections, in developing decolonised and inclusive museums, and in collaborative approaches to restitution. Her PhD thesis, which was completed through the University of the Witwatersrand, was titled The Migrated Museum: Restitution or a Shared Heritage? grappled with these aforementioned issues as opportunities for transforming the African museum. She has, through her work, also built an expansive network in the local and international cultural and heritage sectors.
Who were they? Repatriation and the rehumanisation of human remains in museums in southern Africa (In Museums and Communities: Diversity, Dialogue and Collaboration in an Age of Migrations); Goodwill, Morality and Legislation in Restitution & Provenance Politics; a Reflection on Customary Laws and Property Ownership in Africa.