On the restitution of African artifacts preserved in Western museums

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.11606/issn.2316-9133.v34i1pe243843

Keywords:

Achille Mbembe, translation, museums, african art, restitution

Abstract

Translation of the text "À propos de la restitution des artefacts africains conservés dans les musées d’Occident", resulting from the acceptance speech for the 2018 Gerda Henkel Prize that was delivered to Achille Mbembe on October 8, 2018 in Düsseldorf, Germany. Originally published in Analyze Opinion Critique (AOC) magazine on October 5, 2018.

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Author Biographies

  • Achille Mbembe, University of the Witwatersrand

    Prominent Cameroonian intellectual, political theorist, and philosopher known for his contributions to postcolonial studies and critical theory. Professor at the University of the Witwatersrand, in Johannesburg, South Africa.

  • Helena Santos Assunção, Instituto Federal de Minas Gerais

    Professor at IFMG - Ouro Preto. PhD and master in Social Anthropology from the National Museum - UFRJ. She carried out research in northern Mozambique with Makhuwa women, focusing on the relationships between people and objects (capulanas) and between people and spirits (madjine).

  • Paulo Renato Silva de Andrade, Federal University of Minas Gerais

    Bachelor and Master in History from the Federal University of Minas Gerais, specializing in Late Antiquity and the emergence of Islam. He is currently studying Archeology at the same institution.

References

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Bondaz, Julien. 2014. "Entrer en collection. Pour une ethnographie des gestes et des techniques de collecte", Les Cahiers de l’École du Louvre, vol. 4, no 4.

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Gossiaux, Pol Pierre. 2007. "Conserver, restaurer: écrire le temps em Afrique", CeROArt, 1.

Lotte Arndt, "Vestiges of Oblivion Sammy Baloji’s Works on Skulls in European Museum Collections", darkmatter (www.darkmatter101.org/site/2013/11/18).

Roberts, Allen F. 1998. A Dance of Assassins. Performing Early Colonial Hegemony in the Congo, Bloomington, Indiana University Press.

Severi, Carlo. 2017. L'objet-personne. Une anthropologie de la croyance visuelle, Paris, Éditions de la Rue d'Ulm, 49-53.

Speranza, Gaetano.2008. "Sculpture africaine. Blessures et altérité", CeROArt, 2.

Tempels, Placide, La philosophie bantoue, tr. A. Rubbens, Lovania (Elisabethville), 1945,

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Zahan, Dominique. 1969. La graine et la viande. Mythologie dogon, Paris, Présence africaine.

Capa da revista cadernos de campo, mostrando uma das fotos que compõem o dossiê quimeras. Foto artística de uma paisagem marítima

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Published

2025-12-12

Issue

Vol. 34 No. 1 (2025)

Section

Translations

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How to Cite

Mbembe, A. (2025). On the restitution of African artifacts preserved in Western museums (H. S. Assunção & P. R. S. de Andrade, Trans.). Cadernos De Campo (São Paulo, 1991), 34(1), e243843. https://doi.org/10.11606/issn.2316-9133.v34i1pe243843