Convenors: Kola Adekola (Nigeria), Shadreck Chirikure (UK), Tathagata Neogi (UK/India) and Ahmed Sulaiman (Nigeria)
Restitution of cultural objects and ancestral remains has become a global phenomenon, particularly in the last decade. Cultural materials that are the results of conquests, have been stolen or looted, or are the products of illegal exchanges are being returned to their ‘original’ owners and descendants by governments, private museums and even individuals as a means of righting the wrongs of the past. In Nigeria, over 15,000 cultural materials from ancient Benin are the flagship, though pockets of materials from other cultures, such as the Ife, are also expected to be returned. In the case of India and Pakistan, demands for the return of the Kohinoor diamond have been reverberating in political, academic and popular circles for the last 50 years. Restitution has raised many salient questions which are of concern in almost all climes, especially in post-colonial settings. Issues of security, the power of preservation, and access/visibility of the objects are of particular concern. These questions underscore why restitution is topical in heritage management across all territories. This theme therefore calls for sessions on the above. Specific case studies in all parts of the world are germane as we dissect the multi-layered issues surrounding the restitution of cultural objects and ancestral remains.
Contacts:
Kola Adekola
University of Ibadan, Nigeria
kolawole.adekola@gmail.com
Shadreck Chirikure
Edward Hall Professor of Archaeological Science
Director: Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art
University of Oxford, UK
shadreck.chirikure@arch.ox.ac.uk
Tathagata Neogi
Honorary Research Fellow University of Exeter/Calcutta, India
tathagata@immersivetrail.com
Ahmed Sulaiman
University of Ibadan, Nigeria
sulaimanahmed2010@gmail.com
THEME 02 SESSIONS
T02/Session 03: Profit and Loss: Commercial Trade in Ancestral Remains and Repatriation
T02/Session 05: Indigenous Women in Repatriation and Resistance