Why are African artifacts everywhere but Africa?
The countless African artifacts that continue to be held in Western institutions after being obtained illegally send a violent message that makes efforts toward reconciliation inconsequential.
museums
The aftertaste of the ocean
Mati Diop’s 'Dahomey' isn’t solely concerned with the subject of repatriating Beninese artifacts, but with returning the debate to the Beninese themselves.
Sudan’s cultural devastation
How the UAE-backed RSF looted Sudan's National Museum.
Buying back our things
One man’s mission to reclaim Somali material culture.
Outside the field of African art
Asking whether white people should curate African art anymore, may be outdated. Instead we should ask: what is African art now and does the category matter anymore?
The art of virtue signaling
For French President, Emmanuel Macron, recruiting various African intellectuals turned out to be a key asset in trying to shift the Françafrique narrative, while simultaneously protecting French interests on the continent.
Reading List: Shimrit Lee
The author of 'Decolonize Museums' assembles a list of essential reading on the past, present and future of museums.
Against a willing amnesia
Two books, by art historian Bénédicte Savoy and journalist Barnaby Phillips respectively, detail how we got to this point in the restitution of African heritage.
International thief thief
There can no longer be false justifications for holding Benin Bronzes, and other pilfered materials, in museums outside of Africa.
Holding living bodies in graveyards
The violence of keeping Ethiopian manuscripts in Western institutions.
What comes after art repatriation
We all want to see Africa's heritage repatriated to the continent. But what happens after it returns?
The art washing of Sindika Dokolo
The art world largely Isabel dos Santos’s husband despite him being caught up in large scale corruption.
Hendrik Witbooi’s Bible
Restitution and the responsibility of addressing Europe's colonial legacy - in this case Namibia - via artifacts left behind.
The confrontation with France’s slave past
A visit to a museum in a French port city, brings up questions about how slavery is remembered.
After the scramble
It's time to return Africa's vinyl records.
Decolonizing the museum
How should Belgium's Africa Museum address its colonial past?
Renovating the AfricaMuseum
An overview of some of the problems and opportunities that the reopening of Belgium's infamous AfricaMuseum brings.
The Museum of Black Civilizations
France no longer has an excuse to hold on to Senegal's cultural heritage. Senegal has a place for it.
Museums as Sites of Struggle
The exhibition 'Goede Hoop: South Africa and the Netherlands from 1600,' in Amsterdam, is like making your way through a hall of mirrors.
The African presence in Western Art
Interview with curators Sylviane Diouf (Schomburg Center) and Joaneath Spicer (Walters Art Museum) about the African presence in Western and Asian art.