Fifteen Colonial Thefts: A Guide to Looted African Heritage in Museums

Summary

'Eloquent and powerful … an invaluable collection of forgotten histories. The authors show that colonial conquest was not only about erasing, expropriating, dispossessing, extracting, exploiting, but also looting and trafficking. They make the case for unconditional restitutions and returns' Françoise Vergès, author of A Programme of Absolute Disorder: Decolonizing the Museum

'Brings much-needed diversity to a debate that has for too long focused on a very few cases mainly seen from a European perspective. A great introduction to the history behind the restitution process' Felicity Bodenstein, Lecturer, Sorbonne Université

Debates around restitution and decolonizing museums continue to rage across the world. Artefacts, effigies, and ancestral remains are finally being accurately contextualized and repatriated to their homelands.

Fifteen Colonial Thefts amplifies and adds to these discussions, exploring the history of colonial violence in Africa through the prism of fifteen African belongings—all looted at the height of the imperial era and brought to Western museums.

With contributors from across the continents of Europe and Africa, including scientists, museum professionals, artists, and activists, the book illuminates the collective trauma and loss of cultural, historical, and spiritual knowledge that colonial theft engendered.