MUSEUM RESTITUTION

WHAT IS RESTITUTION?

Restitution is the act of returning a lost or stolen object of historic or cultural significance to its country or community of origin. It aims at justice for past wrongs, but it can be a sensitive and complicated process.

Join Our Parliamentary Campaign

Museum Restitution Course

The Museum Restitution Course is a dynamic training programme equipping participants to lead ethical change within museums and heritage institutions. Grounded in rigorous historiographical analysis, the course examines the colonial foundations of collecting practices and addresses the urgent need for restitution, policy reform, and institutional accountability.

Participants engage in meaningful knowledge exchange with African heritage communities while developing advocacy skills, ethical best-practice frameworks, and cultural mediation strategies. Central to the programme is the Laying Our Ancestors To Rest policy agenda, which calls for an end to the buying, selling, and exhibition of human remains and supports their dignified return.

This course prepares cultural professionals to safeguard accurate narratives, reform policy, and contribute to a more just and responsible museum sector.

UK PARLIAMENTARY CAMPAIGN

On Wednesday 7th March 2025, Decolonising the Archive (DTA) attended a UK Parliamentary policy brief launch. We collaborated with the APPG, AFFORD and AFRIMUHERE to present our research on Human Remains in the UK. We were joined by leading M.P. on this matter, Bell Ribiero-Addy and members of the wider community, to campaign for the restitution of ancestral remains held in museums, institutions and private collections across the U.K.

• African Foundation for Development (AFFORD)

• African Museums and Heritage Restitution (AFREEMUHERE)

• the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Afrikan Reparations (APPG-AR)

• And members of the community

The report, Laying Ancestors to Rest – the African Ancestral Remains Project, was produced by AFFORD's Iben Bo, she presented the recommendations to the change in UK legislation, including the Tissues Act, and demanded a ban on the sale of ancestral remains. The purpose of the meeting was to raise awareness and a call for the justice and ethical return for rightful burial.

The meeting was chaired by MP Bell Ribeiro-Addy and featured speeches from graduates of DTA's Ancestral Remains Ethical Rights Enabler course, Connie Bell (Museum Restitution Course leader) journalists and speakers from other groups. Members of the community included campaigners who voiced their support for these recommendations, and their disapproval for the lack of desired progress by politicians and the government thus far.

The Ancestral Remains Ethical Rights Enabler Course

The Ancestral Remains Ethical Rights Enabler course was born out of a need to address one of many injustices and inhumane treatments that contribute to the dissolution of cultural identity for African heritage people in Britain and similarly impacted heritage groups. The remains of our ancestors lie incarcerated in Museums across Britain unbeknown to its citizens, let alone the actual African communities from which they were violently removed. As such, the course facilitates the training of participants to become Ancestral Remains Ethical Rights Enablers. This not only provides sharing of the knowledge on the matter and the historical resonance of these subjects prior to their incarceration, but more importantly opens a space for the community to speak and petition on behalf of the deceased to be liberated.

WHY DO WE NEED THIS COURSE?

The holding of ancestral remains as items of curiosity and/or entertainment is extremely problematic. The course creates a pathway to a more informed understanding of potential corrective measures as well as some of the complexities around these.

The proper disposition of remains is an obligation stemming from human rights principles. International bodies like the OHCHR are working to develop principles for the humane treatment of the dead, recognising the importance of respectful disposition.

COURSE OUTLINE

The intensive updated course sessions cover 8 weeks, addressing the subject matter of African and Indigenous Ancestral Remains held in Museums and their connection to our broader reparations and restitution struggle.

The course addresses issues of cultural amnesia, historical inequity, legalities and policies surrounding the matter and the basic right to humane disposition of remains. It is facilitated by international experts who are practically engaged with this work.

The course leader is Connie Bell (Memory Worker).

REFRAMING COLLECTIONS, RESTORING DIGNITY, RECLAIMING AUTHORITY

This programme addresses the urgent need to confront the legacies of colonial acquisition, the commodification of sacred and cultural objects, and the continued circulation of human remains within museum economies. Through rigorous historical analysis and contemporary case studies, participants engage in a robust historiographical examination of how collecting practices were constructed, justified, and institutionalised — and how they can be ethically dismantled and restructured.

Central to the course is the Laying Our Ancestors To Rest policy agenda, which advocates for the cessation of the buying, selling, and exhibition of human remains and calls for their dignified return to descendant communities. Participants will explore the legal, ethical, and diplomatic dimensions of this work, developing the confidence and capacity to advocate for policy change within institutions and across international contexts.

Through training in advocacy, community engagement, provenance research, and best-practice frameworks, the course prepares participants to:

• Champion restitution processes with clarity and confidence

• Work ethically and collaboratively with African and diasporic heritage communities

• Interrogate and reform institutional policies

• Protect the integrity of cultural narratives and archival records

• Support museums in transitioning toward reparative and accountable practice

The Museum Restitution Course recognises that restitution is not simply about objects — it is about restoring dignity, rebalancing power, and reshaping the relationship between institutions and the communities whose histories they hold. conditions that shaped global museum collections but will also be equipped to influence the future of museum policy and practice.

REGISTER BELOW FOR 2026

COURSE AND ENROLLMENT

This Ancestral Remains Ethical Rights Enabler module involves intensive sessions over 8 weeks, covering the subject matter of African and Indigenous Ancestral Remains held in Museums and their connection to our broader reparations and restitution struggle.

The course addresses issues of cultural amnesia, historical inequities and the basic right to humane disposition of remains. It is facilitated by international experts who are practically engaged with this work.

In our commitment to the self-determined repair of our community, Decolonising the Archive (DTA) offers a limited number of bursaries for this new stand-alone module. As these are limited, it is imperative that they are shared with those who are demonstrably committed to making positive changes in this area and who are able to deal with the gravity of the subject matter.

To find out more and to request an application form

email: team@decolonisingthearchive.com

#ACTION NOT A BAG A MOUTH

She presented a compelling exploration of the journey from exposing corporate complicity in slavery to advocating for the repatriation of Benin Bronzes to African-descendants, highlighting the intersections of justice, accountability, and cultural restitution.

Her advocacy led to apologies and restitution payments from major entities like Brown University and JPMorgan Chase. Inspired by her own family's history and driven by a commitment to justice, Deadria continues to champion the return of cultural artefacts and the rights of descendants of enslaved Africans worldwide.