Restitution Beyond Repatriation: Rethinking African Art and the Question of Decolonizing Museums

Debates surrounding restitution and the decolonization of European museums, particularly concerning African arts, are riddled with conflicting interests. With European actors driving the discourse, it perpetuates neo-colonial maneuvering that deflects attention from imperial injustices against Africa and ongoing epistemic violence. The focus on patrial repatriation and African museum financing, which are veneered as ethical recompense, cajoles Africans into accepting European funding and demeaning artifact loan agreements under the guise of international collaboration. These approaches reduce restitution to mere material exchanges, obscuring issues of cultural desecration, epistemicide, and ongoing epistemic violence against the continent through distorted displays in Europe and America.

There are an estimated 70,000 African objects at the Musee du Quai Branly - Jacques Chirac, 69,000 at the British Museum, 37,000 at the Welt Museum in Austria, and 75,000 at the Future Humboldt Forum in Germany, as well as 180,000 at the Musee Royal de l' Afrique Centrale in Belgium. However, very few are currently contested. The numerical disparity between contested and non-contested objects makes achieving ethical restitution through object return unrealistic, especially considering the goal of decolonizing museums. The continued presence of thousands of African material cultures in racist anthropological gazes will extend the debasement of African culture and history. Therefore, this panel calls for a broader examination of ethical restitution beyond repatriation, inviting contributions that engage museum decolonization in terms of taxonomy, curation, narration, and public engagement. It invites curators, art historians, and cultural experts to examine strategies for restitution that may include but extend beyond repatriation.