Paper short abstract:

This introductory paper will pose questions concerning underlying assumptions and inherited ways of seeing that frame research, interpretation and display of African material in museums, including questions of future ownership, international collaboration and universalism.

Paper long abstract:

As the future of colonial era collections from Africa in European museums is increasingly debated, this paper will pose questions concerning the underlying assumptions and inherited ways of seeing that frame the research, interpretation and display of African material in museums. Reflecting on the recent Sarr-Savoy report on restitution, commissioned by French President Macron, this includes responses to questions of future ownership, international collaboration and universalism that have circulated in the press and online since December 2018.

A demand for the recognition of acts of colonial violence in the past, and their legacies in the present, lie central to these debates. This includes questions about the structural inequalities that frame ideas of legitimacy and appropriate justice. While moral and logistical debates about repatriation continue to rage above the curatorial level, this paper seeks to recognise some of the underlying colonial legacies and inequalities that continue to frame work with African collections today. This includes reflection on our own practice, and the embedded and inherited assumptions and vocabularies that permeate the academic background and professional training traditionally associated with museum curatorships. What are the assumptions underlying how collections are presented, and who for? What are the tensions that permeate ideas of legitimate expertise? Can anything be done to disrupt them?