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Paper short abstract:

While restitution of objects from European museums to Africa are commendable, its lasting positive impact is premised on reimagining and re-socializing these objects to capture African realities and spirituality. It is the beginning of contesting the denigrated African culture and person.

Paper long abstract:

The restitution of African objects from European museums that has recently gained pace is historic and welcomed in the African continent. The recognition that these objects were acquired in dubious ways like looting by Europeans is not only a moral reawakening on the part of Europe but that of pride, dignity and recognition on the part of Africa. The absence of these objects have undoubtedly denied Africa their rich material culture, and have exacerbated the deliberate destruction and denigration of the African culture and people decades after the actual colonization ended. Notwithstanding the binary meanings of these objects as viewed by both the colonizers and the colonized, this paper explores ways in which these objects' deeper meaning may be reassigned and re-socialized in Africa. While for the Europeans these objects were merely artistic and demonstrated the exploits of empire, to Africans they were sacred, spiritual and part of their being. This paper demonstrates how the absence of these objects undermined African culture and proposes new ways in which the African people and culture may be reaffirmed through these objects. It argues that the failure of most European projects and institutions in Africa may be attributed to the misunderstanding and misconception of Europeans about Africa. Using returned objects to Namibia and Nigeria as cases, it argues that the return of these objects will enrich the decolonization of knowledge, which has been dominated by western epistemologies which have further relegated Africa to the periphery.