History Commons^™

Restitution Of Cultural Material To Africa, E. Kofi Agorsah

Black Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

As African nations search for means to establish viable and authentic cultural identities, an increasing number of demands have been made on European Governments to return art objects, archives and antiquities taken during the colonial era. In a sense these demands come as attempts to turn back history, the history which denuded Africa of its culture in order to impress the fact of colonial subjugation.

For centuries, the movement of African art and antiquities has been an outward flow and as thousands of military and political conquerors, administrators, missionaries and adventurers took home souvenirs of their African experiences, and with …