Looted Nigerian heritage – an interrogatory discourse around repatriation

The colonial assault on African culture and heritage culminated in the indiscriminate looting of African cultural resources, many of which are icons in public and private museums and institutions in Europe and North America. Many more are in auction houses and art galleries outside the continent. While there is no comprehensive audit of these materials, they are estimated to run into hundreds of thousands. In this paper, attempts are made to identify the different genres of looted Nigerian materials in Europe and North America. Factors that have continued to exacerbate the looting of the country’s cultural resources are identified and attempts are made to suggest possible strategies for the repatriation of these looted treasures

South Asian mobilisation in two northern cities: a comparison of Manchester and Bradford Asian youth movements

Anti-racist movements develop and maintain their energy through the establishment of local, grass root networks. To date, research on the anti-racist movement in Britain has focussed on the creation of national narratives that highlight the power and influence of the movement. This article compares two of the Asian Youth movements that operated in the late 1970s and early 1980s to explore the importance of investigating localised settings when researching the history and impact of the antiracist movement as a whole. Oral histories and documents produced by the Asian Youth Movements are used to reflect and understand how the organisations operated and developed differently, highlighting the influence of specific urban environments which affected local migratory experiences and therefore the makeup and operations of the movements themselves

Building and Contesting post-war Housing in Dakar

After the Second World War, European welfare planning was transposed to the African colonies. With regard to housing this meant a true turning point in urban policy. For the first time the colonial state massively invested in the housing of the African urban dwellers. However, the segregationist underground and elite‐focus of the housing schemes at the same time reinforced fundamental inequities in the African city, thereby furthering colonial goals. The promotion of African emancipation was thus accompanied by a strong ‘social engineering’. Yet, Africans were no passive victims of development schemes. In this paper we will take a close look at the housing schemes of the Société Immobilière du Cap Vert (SICAP) in Dakar (Senegal) between 1951 and 1960 (independence). Notwithstanding the significant housing shortages in Dakar, archival records show that a substantial amount of the SICAP houses remained vacant after completion. Apart from too high rents, the main reason was that the SICAP-houses seemed to be designed with the average West-European middle-class family in mind. As a consequence, most houses proved too small and little adjusted to the extended African family, which is well reflected in the many alterations the SICAP houses underwent right from their completion until today. Moreover, the SICAP housing schemes, and in particular their segregationist and elitist underground, caused strong African opposition. Many Africans opposed to the more than 80.000 forced evictions, known in the colonial jargon as ‘déguerpissements’, that were caused by the implementation of the schemes. The result was a fierce battle over land between the government and the inhabitants of Dakar. In particular the Lebou-population demanded adequate compensation for its land in case of expropriation, even if they did not possess any official land title, with equal rewards for Africans and Europeans. Due various forms of active and passive protest of the inhabitants the implementation of the SICAP housing schemes regularly came to a standstill and the government often found itself in ‘a complete impasse’. The study of these different forms of agency and resistance in Dakar is important as it shows that, although colonial rule was strict and compelling, it was possible to escape from it to some degree

Performing Sustainability in West Africa

This book discusses the role of cultural practices and policy for sustainable development in West Africa across different artistic disciplines, including performance, video, theatre, community arts and cultural heritage. Based on ethnographic field research in local communities, the book presents findings on current debates of cultural sustainability in Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon and Benin. It provides a unique perspective connecting cultural studies, conflict studies and practical peacebuilding approaches through the arts. The first part pays particular attention to aspects of social cohesion and the circumstances of internally displaced persons e. g. caused by the Boko Haram insurgency in Northeast Nigeria. The second part focuses on cultural policy issues and challenges in the context of sustainable development, investigating participatory approaches and bottom-up processes, the role of governments and civil society, as well as performing arts organizations and universities in policy making and implementation processes. Performing Sustainability in West Africa presents research results and new methods on the role of artistic and cultural practices in conflict situations as well as current debates in cultural policy for researchers, academics, NGOs and students in cultural studies, sustainable development studies and African studies

Whose urn is it anyway? Discussions on decolonisation & repatriation efforts in the cultural heritage sector in Portugal

Recent initiatives and reports, such as the Savoy–Sarr report in France, show some positive response among Western countries to the increasingly frequent calls for repatriating artefacts from museums, often as part of larger decolonisation efforts, although many of these calls still go unanswered. As this movement gains traction, the modern states of former empires and present-day hegemons, including Portugal, will face more legal, cultural, and ideological battles over the objects in their care. Thus, establishing guidelines for handling repatriation requests would be an acknowledgement of the power and importance of culture and increase Portugal’s soft power to make peace with the past and foster stronger international ties. This thesis analyses actors and arguments involved in public decolonisation and repatriation debates and efforts in the Portuguese cultural heritage sector. First, a brief history and contextualisation of decolonisation and repatriation efforts in museums situates Portugal within a larger movement to include previously excluded voices and perspectives. Then, the Portuguese context is specifically examined, considering the legacy of lusotropicalism and the ways Portugal has begun to reckon with its historical role in constructing and perpetuating the idea of race. Recent public debates reveal two outspoken camps in such polarising debates, with a notable absence of in-between voices, including rural and less formally educated Portuguese. Finally, a shared piece of cultural patrimony, the mortal remains of Dom Pedro I of Brazil (IV of Portugal), shows the potential difficulty in determining ownership and dominance in the relationship between empires and their former colonies.Iniciativas e relatórios recentes mostram algumas respostas positivas por parte dos países Ocidentais aos crescentes pedidos de repatriação de artefactos de museu, que vêm associados a esforços de descolonização mais abrangentes. Enquanto este movimento cresce, os estados modernos de antigos impérios e hegemons atuais, incluindo Portugal, irão enfrentar mais batalhas legais, culturais e ideológicas acerca dos objetos que estão debaixo do seu cuidado. Assim, o estabelecimento de orientações para lidar com pedidos de repatriação representaria um reconhecimento da importância da cultura e aumentaria o soft power de Portugal, mostrando a sua capacidade de fazer paz com o passado e de nutrir laços internacionais mais fortes. Esta tese analisa os atores e argumentos envolvidos nos debates e esforços públicos de descolonização e de repatriação dentro do setor português de herança cultural. Uma contextualização dos esforços de descolonização e repatriação nos museus situa Portugal dentro de um movimento maior para incluir vozes anteriormente excluídas. Esta tese analisa especificamente o contexto português, considerando o legado do luso-tropicalismo e as formas como Portugal tem começado a lidar com o seu papel histórico na construção e perpetuação da ideia de raça. Debates públicos, recentes, e polarizantes revelam dois campos proeminentes, com uma ausência notável de vozes intermédias, incluindo de portugueses com menor educação formal e provenientes de zonas rurais. Finalmente, um pedaço partilhado de património cultural, os restos mortais de Dom Pedro I do Brasil, mostra a potencial dificuldade em determinar a pertença e a dominância na relação entre impérios e as antigas colónias

Performing Sustainability in West Africa

This book discusses the role of cultural practices and policy for sustainable development in West Africa across different artistic disciplines, including performance, video, theatre, community arts and cultural heritage. Based on ethnographic field research in local communities, the book presents findings on current debates of cultural sustainability in Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon and Benin. It provides a unique perspective connecting cultural studies, conflict studies and practical peacebuilding approaches through the arts. The first part pays particular attention to aspects of social cohesion and the circumstances of internally displaced persons e. g. caused by the Boko Haram insurgency in Northeast Nigeria. The second part focuses on cultural policy issues and challenges in the context of sustainable development, investigating participatory approaches and bottom-up processes, the role of governments and civil society, as well as performing arts organizations and universities in policy making and implementation processes. Performing Sustainability in West Africa presents research results and new methods on the role of artistic and cultural practices in conflict situations as well as current debates in cultural policy for researchers, academics, NGOs and students in cultural studies, sustainable development studies and African studies

Remappings - the Making of European Narratives

How narratives emerge, unfold and impact across Europe today, and how they contribute to redrawing our maps of Europe