Repatriation Of Cultural Heritage Research Articles

Реституция и репатриация культурных ценностей: позитивистский подход бывших метрополий против подхода стран третьего мира к международному публичному праву

The article addresses the correlation between the mechanism of international legal regulation of restitution and repatriation of cultural heritage with the position of moral philosophy, exemplified by their voluntary return to countries of the Global South within the framework of the “metropolis-colony” model, aiming to restore historical justice in the context of cultural artifacts’ removal by former metropolises from former colonies’ territories. It highlights the problem of the current impossibility to recognize this process as a legal institution of international law due to the lack of a unified declared approach to solving the aforementioned issue. The article concludes by advocating for the necessity of consolidating the existing experience and developing a unified concept for the return of cultural heritage lost by previously colonial dependent states. It argues that the basis of restitution and repatriation lies not only in the moral paradigms of Western Europe and modern political interests but also in the preservation of global cultural heritage and the prevention of the voluntary restitution’s exploitation as a legitimate means of its transfer to private collections. This article delves into the intricacies of international legal frameworks surrounding the restitution and repatriation of cultural artifacts, juxtaposing the positivist stance of former colonial powers against the perspectives of nations from the Third World. It scrutinizes the ethical and political dimensions of governments’ attitudes towards their historical colonial past, examining various models of voluntary restitution within the national systems of the Netherlands, France, the United Kingdom, and Germany. The analysis underscores the imperative of synthesizing diverse approaches and crafting a cohesive strategy for returning cultural treasures to their rightful owners. Moreover, it emphasizes the multifaceted motivations underlying restitution efforts, emphasizing not only moral imperatives and modern political agendas but also the imperative of safeguarding the world’s cultural heritage and thwarting the exploitation of voluntary restitution as a conduit for the legitimization of cultural appropriation into private collections.

Destruction or dialectics

This essay examines Zoe Strother’s efforts to historicize recent debates about the repatriation of cultural heritage while also situating contemporary protest movements, such as “Rhodes Must Fall,”...

The digital return of ILAM’s Zimbabwean recordings: revitalization of the sound archive through postcolonial engagement between ILAM and African universities

ABSTRACTThe International Library of African Music (ILAM) is located in South Africa and is the largest sound archive of African music on the continent. This article examines a project involving the digital return and revitalization of Zimbabwean mbira (The mbira (or thumb piano) is an instrument classified as lamellophone in the categorization of instruments (organology). The lamellophones belong to the type of instruments mostly found in sub-Saharan Africa.) recordings (the mbira is an instrument popularly known as the thumb piano or lamellophone) which was undertaken by the author during 2015–2016. The article describes how the project involved taking recordings from the sound archive in a digital format (CD or MP3 mainly) back to the country, region, or location where these recordings were made and how it led to increased engagement with the recordings and to collaboration between ILAM, the author, scholars, and mbira teachers in Zimbabwe. The outcomes from the project are detailed and the project is placed in the wider context of discourse around postcolonial studies and the repatriation of cultural heritage.

Editorial

Editorial

Conference on Repatriation of Cultural Heritage: Nuuk, Greenland, February 12 to 15, 2007

From February 12 to 15, 2007, the Greenland National Museum & Archive convened an international and crossdisciplinary conference on repatriation of cultural heritage. Nearly 90 people attended the conference representing more than 20 different states and indigenous peoples. Based on experiences in relation to the recent return of 35,000 archaeological and ethnographic items from Denmark to the Greenlandic Home rule, the aim of the Greenlandic conference was to facilitate dialog and partnership between relevant stakeholders founded on mutual respect and understanding.

Repatriation of museum objects from national collections to local communities in Norway

In this article, I examine ongoing debates in Norway on repatriation of cultural heritage in the form of antiquities. The focus is however not on international debates regarding colonial looting or indigenous’ rights to manage their own heritage as is usually the case within this topic, but rather on local claims for the return of cultural treasures from national museums. In cases such as those examined here, local institutions (museums and churches) have requested central museums to return cultural antiquities to the local community claiming that this is where they originally were in use and therefore belong. In this article I take a closer look at the arguments given by the local and the central stakeholders in heritage management. The arguments and practice reveal ideologies and ethical principles at work within the sector, but also show how these are constantly shifting. Further on, I discuss this practice in relation to Norwegian heritage politics.