What Is Restitution? Some Conceptual Considerations

Abstract

This paper is the outcome of joint reflections by the two authors, based on their diverse experiences of museum work in Europe and in Africa. This work was made possible thanks to a MIASA fellowship at the University of Ghana. The paper offers a conceptual approach to restitution as a phenomenon that has gained much public attention in recent years. Since the diverse practices of restitution have attracted more attention than certain concepts related to it, this paper addresses this imbalance by focusing on conceptual issues. Restitution is described as the process of renegotiating and mobilising cultural heritage. Simultaneously, it makes a contribution to overcoming the injustices of the colonial era. Restitution is understood as the remobilisation of material items, accompanied by the identification of new embeddings. It fundamentally implies an appreciation of the collections concerned. The first chapter explains the epistemic positioning of the authors and the paper, as well as the framework, such as the relationship between restitution and coloniality, and the diversity of practices labelled by the term ‘restitution’. The second chapter characterises the actors involved and explains the importance of cultural heritage institutions for successful and sustainable restitution. Furthermore, some of the conditions for the remobilisation and, consequently, the revaluation of these collections are explained. The third chapter focuses on the collections and explains their transformation as a result of the long duration of storage and the changes in meaning through time and space. Restitution is described as the career of objects. This applies to the repositioning of the objects to their new embeddings and functions, and to the increased public attention they receive. As the final chapter emphasises, restitution starts long before the actual moment of return. Negotiations form part of this, as do considerations regarding the whereabouts of the objects. Restitution produces new meanings for cultural artefacts and should therefore be understood as an open-ended process.