Restitution From A Global Perspective: Memory, Identity and Politics provides a critical, global analysis of the ongoing discussions and debates that promote or hinder restitution. Chapters within the book are authored by a diverse, international group of well-established thinkers in this area and cover a wide range of subjects, including decolonization, democratization, reparation, repatriation, post-colonialism, human rights, migration and globalization.
Taking a truly global approach, the book considers the role of restitution in the production of local and national histories and religious and cultural practices. It will also critically examine the embedded national, regional and geopolitical implications of the debate, arguing that it is no longer only a North-South or African-Europe phenomenon, but an interregional and intercontinental issue. Providing a critical look at the roles of museums and the exhibition of heritage properties, the book also examines the narratives accompanying objects in current use, considering how they influence the discussion on restitution. The various conventions and other international and local instruments that have been put in place will also be under scrutiny, as contributors consider whether they facilitate or hinder the restitution process.
Restitution From A Global Perspective: Memory, Identity and Politics is essential reading for academics and researchers, as well as students, of heritage studies, museology, cultural diplomacy, history and anthropology.
Table of Contents:
List of figures; Preface; List of Contributors; 1. Reflections on the current status of restitution of heritage properties in the world: introduction to the global perspective; 2. Repatriating African Ancestral Remains: Restoring Justice and the Imperative of Reparations; 3. The Expatriation and Restitution Matrix: A Dilemma for the Reacquisition of Heritage by African Countries; 4. Restitution: The Case of South Africa; 5. Southern Africa and the Restitution of Cultural Property: Are we there yet?; 6. Heritage Appropriation and Restitution: Colonial Violence, Memory, Community Responses and the Politics of Return in Postcolonial Kenya; 7. The International Return of Vigango to the Mijikenda of Coastal Kenya; 8. Politics of Remaking Repatriated Cultural Objects into National Heritage Assets at the Uganda National Museum; 9. Cultural Heritage Restitution to Ethiopia: Historical Precedents and Recent Developments; 10. To Return to One’s Own Country: Digital Reproduction and Repatriation, Nigeria; 11. From European Reserves to African Reserves: Exploring the Usefulness of the Repatriated Artifacts; 12. Positioning Demuseumification as an enabler for the Decolonisation and Transformation of Museums and Heritage Management in South Africa; 13. Displaced, Sold, and Displayed: Working Toward New Practices within African Ancestral Remains Retention in the UK; 14. “The Conch echo”, Metaphor of a Transoceanic Africa and New Paradigm for Museums; 15. Cooperation between South and North Korea in the Repatriation of Ccultural Hheritage; 16. A Late Arrival: Confronting Nordic Colonialism and reconsidering research ethics in the Care of Human Remains in Swedish Museums; 17. From Restitution to Resilience: Museums, Māori Communities, and the Future of Restitution; 18. Understanding Success: Indigenous concepts and measures of success in repatriation and reconciliation processes, an international survey of literature and initiatives; 19. Repatriation, healing and wellbeing: understanding success for repatriation policy and practice; 20. ‘Repatriating Repatriation’: Reflections on a career; 21. Conclusion; Index.
About the Author :
George Okello Abungu is Emeritus Director General of the National Museums of Kenya, Founding Professor of Heritage Studies at the University of Mauritius and is currently Honorary Professor of Museums and Heritage Studies at the Australian National University (ANU) in Canberra, Australia.
Webber Ndoro is the Director of the Heritage Centre in the Islamic World at ICESCO, Rabat, Morocco and former Director General of ICCROM. He Founding Executive Director of the African World Heritage Fund and currently is Associate Professor at the University of Cape Town. Cape Town, South Africa.
Cressida Fforde is a Professor of Restitution Studies and Head of the Return, Reconcile, Renew Programme at the Centre for Museum and Heritage Studies at the Australian National University (ANU), Canberra, Australia.
