The Looting of Africa’s Artefacts

How did so many African artefacts end up in European museums? 

Many people have strong opinions about the artefacts in question and the illegality of their removal from sacred and historic sites. Campaigns for the return of African artefacts are gaining steam from Scotland to Germany. Activists such as Emery Mwazulu Diyabanza have taken the resistance to museum gallery floors, while architects such as Sir David Adjaye are working with African leaders on the continent and in the diaspora to coordinate the return of items.

In this exciting conversation we will dive into the colonial wars of the later 19th and 20th centuries to explore the journeys the artefacts took from Africa to Europe and to examine the moral and diplomatic arguments both against and in support of their return.