Short Abstract

At the crossroads of visual arts, social sciences and political activism, many filmmakers are addressing the issue of looted artefacts and their restitution. The panel aims to explore how they contribute to documentation, knowledge dissemination and social and political mobilisation.

Long Abstract

At the crossroads of visual arts, social sciences and political activism, many filmmakers are addressing the issue of looted artefacts and their restitution. From commissioned documentaries (Marker, Resnais and Cloquet, 1953) to Nollywood fiction films (Imasuen, 2014), along with productions focusing on the return of ancestral remains (Maseko, 2002), cultural treasures (Philippe, 2021) and the spirits they contain (Diop, 2024), a remarkably rich filmography is taking shape. It forms a repertoire that finds an echo in a wide range of literary and artistic works, as well as in the cultural and creative industries (Relooted, 2026). Its intensification and diversification go hand in hand with the increasing debate about the colonial past of museums and the forms of reparations being considered at international, continental, national and local levels. These audiovisual and artistitic projects join the chorus of Afropean and African voices – whether associations or governments – that unanimously denounce the injustice of such acquisitions, support protests and back demands for restitution. The panel aims to explore, from an interdisciplinary perspective, how these audiovisual and artistitic projects interact both with academic research on museum collections and civil society, contributing not only to academic documentation and knowledge dissemination but also to social mobilisation and political claims.

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