Restitution, Return, Repatriation and Reparation (the 4Rs) in Africa: Reality or Transcultural Aphasia?

Abstract

The topic of restitution of cultural materials in colonial contexts raises historical, political, and moral questions. This working paper summarizes the research findings of IFG 5 at MIASA, which moved the academic and political debates about restitution to more practical and epistemological levels. L’IFG 5 focused on one evolving restitution case study from the Akpini Traditional Area in Kpando (Ghana) demanding the return of their royal regalia from Germany, and it analysed the field within which the case unfolds. This paper, which is based on field research involving meetings and discussions with representatives from the Akpini Traditional Area, multiplies the voices/narratives of interest groups on local, national and international levels; widens the perspectives on the issues; and interrogates the ongoing limited multi-practices of restitution, return, repatriation and reparation (the 4Rs) in the post-colonial African context. The paper identifies a plethora of interest groups in the restitution case in Kpando with varying agendas. It concludes that the field of “restitution” is characterized by interest groups that do not conform to a simplified dichotomous vision and that their agendas go beyond the mere return of cultural materials.