Fifteen Colonial Thefts , livre ebook

‘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

‘By focusing on colonial violence, this book not only reminds us of the nature of colonialism itself, but also of the unabated necessity to continue scrutinising museum collections and work towards restitution’ Larissa Förster, Department of European Ethnology, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin

Debates around restitution and decolonising museums continue to rage across the world. Artefacts, effigies and ancestral remains are finally being accurately contextualised 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.

Each chapter is accompanied by an original illustration, commissioned especially for the book, from both established and emerging African artists, bringing these stories to life for the reader. 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.

Sela K. Adjei is a multidisciplinary artist and researcher. He is a lecturer at the University of Media, Arts and Communication, Institute of Film and Television, Accra, Ghana.

Yann LeGall is a postdoctoral researcher on the project ‘The Restitution of Knowledge: Artefacts as Archives in the (Post) Colonial Museum’ at the Technical University in Berlin. As a member of the initiatives Berlin Postkolonial and Postcolonial Potsdam, he leads guided tours on colonial history in both cities.

The book includes a foreword by Peju Layiwola, an art historian and visual artist from Nigeria. She is Professor of Art and Art History at the University of Lagos. Her works can be found in Yemisi Shyllon Museum, Lagos, and in the homes of many private collectors. Her maternal grandfather was Oba Akenzua II, King of Benin, who ruled from 1933 until 1978. Layiwola has led public advocacy for the return of art works stolen from Benin during the Punitive Expedition of 1897.

Foreword by Peju Layiwola

Introduction: Fifteen in a thousand: How to tell the history of colonial conquest, anticolonial resistance, and looted African heritage by Sela Adjei and Yann LeGall

Part I: The Battlefield

1. The treasure of Samori Touré - by Bénédicte Savoy & Felwine Sarr

2. The Manifesto of the Sudanese Mahdī: Banners as Artefacts of Empire - by Fergus Nicoll & Osman Nusairi

3. IsiHlangu from the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879: 'We need to infuse African-ness in museum' - by Mwelela Cele & Yann LeGall

3. The plunder from 'Adibo Dali', and why looted cultural goods need to return to Dagbon - by Alhaji Sulemana Alhassan Iddi, Elias Aguigah, Marlena Barnstorf-Brandes, Michael A. Gyimah, Jan König & Ricarda Rivoir

5. A war coat of the Anufo / Tchokossi: From northern Togo to the Field Museum in Chicago - by Julia Kennedy, Christopher J. Philipp, Foreman Bandama & Kokou Azamede

Part II: The Royal Palace

6. Golden trophy heads of Kofi Karikari: After a long-term absence, a long-term loan... - by Nana Oforiatta Ayim & Mary-Ann Middelkoop

7. A plaqure from an Ngolo etana: The looting of architectural heritage as token of colonial violence - by Jeanne-Ange Wagne & Richard Tsogang Fossi

8. Subverting Firepower: A German cartridge Upcycled as snuffbox, symbol of Chagga resistance - by Konradin Kunze, Sarita L. Mamseri, Mnyaka Sururu Mboro & Gabriel Mzei Orio

9. In Defence of Theft? On the theft and restitution of Ngonsso' and punitive exhibitions - by Fogha Mc Refem & Godfrey B. Tangwa

10. The long journey of the bocio of three Danxomè kings - by Gaëlle Beaujean & Didier Houénoudé

Part III: The Sacred 

11. The tabots from Magdala - by Emanuel Admassu & Eyob Derillo

12. Nkisi nkonde of Chief Ne Kuko of Boma: The tragic spoliation of an object of power - by Placide Mumbembele Sanger

13. The Ngadji of the Pokomo: On Revolutionary Responses, Release and Relationships - by Njoki Ngumi & Adéọlá Naomi Adérè̩mí

14. Where are Mbuya Nehanda's remains? A Zimbabwean search in the context of shifting museum politics - by Farai Chabata, Njabulo Chipangura & Lennon Mhishi 

15. Byéri: Ancestor guardian figures of the Kwasio people in Southern Cameroon - by Yrine Matchinda & Sebastian-Manès Sprute



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