From the 1960s onwards, European museum directors managed to hold off restitution claims from African countries for cultural property looted during the colonial era by strategically closing ranks and relying on essentially racist tropes. For the first time, the book traces these events through the rich documentation available in German, British and French archives.
The campaign driven by newly independent African countries began in 1965 with a passionate editorial by the journalist Paulin Joachim, entitled “Give Us Back Negro Art.” The article was received as a bombshell in European museum circles. A flurry of activities to discredit such requests ensued, with confidential memos being passed between museum officials on the best strategies for a defence.
UNESCO became another battleground for demands and refusals, with its director general Amadou Mahtar M’Bow’s legendary “Plea for the return of an irreplaceable cultural heritage to those who created it” in 1978. High-handed rebuttals came from the director of the British Museum, David M. Wilson, and from the leaders of ethnological museums in Germany, a relatively minor player in colonial power but with a competitive museum landscape which was especially rich in holdings. The legacy of National Socialism also played a part, as many senior figures had already served under the regime.
The campaign for African restitution later lost momentum when it was overshadowed by the appeal from Greece for the return of the Parthenon marbles, but it never ceased entirely. After decades, the repressed subject has now returned. When I worked with Felwine Sarr on the report on restitution of African cultural property in French museums for French president Emanuel Macron in 2018, we found that every conversation we have today about the restitution of cultural property to Africa already happened forty years ago.I would like readers to look at the historical evidence through the lens of current changes in policy regarding colonial restitution. Museums with non-European art in the heart of Europe are walk-in showcases of colonial appropriation practices. They ask us as a society whether, in what form, and for how long we still want to live with these institutions in the twenty-first century. We need to find a new relational ethics.
