Restitution: Paths Toward a Clearing

In her First Word, "African Restitution in a North American Context: A Debate, A Summary, and a Challenge" (African Arts 53 [4]: 10–15), Amanda M. Maples presents a well-researched and compelling argument for museums in North America to join together and develop a process of restitution regarding Africa's archaeological and colonial-era heritage. I would emphasize that this initiative must embrace a process of true partnership and inclusion that involves, from the start, the participation and insights of African colleagues working on and off the continent.

In 2019, I attended Columbia University's Restitution Debate symposium; I co-organized, with National Museum of African Art (NMAfA) colleagues Kris Juncker and then-director Gus Casely-Hayford, an October 22 double panel listening session to solicit ideas and strategies from invited colleagues from Africa as part of a two-day Yale-Smithsonian symposium devoted to global cultural heritage preservation; and I presented a paper on December 3 at a conference on restitution organized by the University of Ghent. Rather than characterizing the restitution debate as heated and divisive, as Amanda asserts, my own observations suggest that the debate is impassioned—as it should be given the importance of Africa's arts to the world and to the histories and heritages of Africans living on and off the continent—and that colleagues working in museums in North America and Europe are genuinely seeking approaches and processes to guide the restitution of colonial-era collections. Indeed, our colleague Costa Petridis, who attended the Ghent conference, and I were slated to cochair a Museum Day roundtable session on restitution at our June 2020 ACASA Triennial Symposium, which has now been postponed for a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It remains our hope that this roundtable will initiate a coordinated effort to articulate approaches and guidelines for US museums in the moral imperative that must drive the process of restitution of Africa's heritage.

Based on these meetings, and my own readings on the subject, I find myself circling back to a persistent question: Isn't the issue of restitution more about equity, inclusion, decision-making power, and true partnership—areas of intellectual and professional engagement that have historically excluded the equitable participation of Africa's museums, scholars, public intellectuals, and community spokespersons? These areas, in my opinion, encompass the process of restitution, which is distinct from a relevant outcome of that process, namely the action of repatriation—the return of African objects to their places of origin.

As the 2018 Sarr-Savoy report points out, objects of African cultural heritage are also forms of access to knowledge and memory that are disrupted for future generations when objects are removed from their places of origin. Memories, histories, meaning-making, traditions, as well as the making of new traditions and memories are disrupted by the absence of tangible and intangible cultural heritage.

Recognizing that there is not yet a rulebook on how to mount and implement claims of restitution and that it is not a "one size fits all" proposition, what are some of the approaches and strategies we might consider to move this initiative forward? The first is for us to embrace an open, honest, and transparent dialogue with our African peers about the realities and enduring impact of colonialism and the role of restitution in addressing this history. And then, we must listen much more than we speak, ensuring that stakeholders who have long been denied a voice in these matters are truly heard.

Repatriation of objects must remain on the table as a possible outcome of the process of restitution, without descending into a discussion about what a museum in Africa might lack in terms of trained personnel, adequate facilities, and sustainable funding. While important, these issues cannot be deal-breakers in processing claims of restitution. Such inclusive conversations would enable Africa's museums to speak for themselves, to express their urgent needs as well as their hopes and aspirations at being equal partners in the global circulation of knowledge, expertise, collections, exhibitions, and audience engagement, including access to collections by source communities. Further, these conversations would open up productive discussions...