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Paper short abstract:

The main question of the paper is how a restituted object was dealt with after its return. After 1925 the Mafue became a museum object but in recent years, representatives of the Gola demand its return. We ask how different groups ascribe meaning to the stone and how this has changed over time.

Paper long abstract:

In 1924, a German traveller acquired the Mafue Stone in the Gola region of Liberia. After a struggle, the stone was returned to Liberia in 1925. It is one of the first cultural artefacts given back from Germany to an African country. We focus on the history of the stone after its return and on the question of how different groups ascribe meaning to the stone and how this has changed over the decades.

In the first part, we address the post-restitution trajectory of the stone: After its return to Monrovia, Gola representatives declined to reclaim it. It became a museum object, serving in a dual role: as an example of Gola culture and as national cultural heritage. Despite indications that the stone was missed in the Gola region, there was no active discourse on its return until recently.

In the second part, we look the current situation: After a research project in 2022, research findings were shared. During another research trip in 2023, demands for the return of the stone were made, unravelling the complexity of the demands connecting diverse actors in Germany and Liberia. These actors ascribe different meanings to the stone. We argue that even after long periods of neglect, the issues can resurface – in this sense the return of an object is not the end of restitution processes. We argue that in order to understand the relevance of objects in contemporary dialogues, it is necessary to understand the history of the objects.