NewsRestitution
Looted African works that France has promised to return to Benin will be shown in Paris museum for one last time
The exhibition Benin: the Restitution of 26 Works from the Royal Treasures of Abomey at Musée du quai Branly–Jacques Chirac will be on view for five days in October
NewsMuseums
Director of slavery memorial in Guadeloupe sacked after reporting €420,000 missing from museum’s budget
Laurella Yssap-Rincon had promised to “correct the mismanagement” of the culture centre when she took the position in 2019
NewsHumboldt Forum
Humboldt Forum opens in Berlin—finally for real
After almost two years of delays, the ambitious museum complex launches its first in-person exhibitions
CommentMuseums & Heritage
We tackled Dutch slaving history—the Rijksmuseum's exhibition could serve as a model of its kind
The Netherlands needs to collectively examine how its past has shaped today's society, says the director of the Amsterdam museum
NewsStatues
Crowds topple statues of Queen Victoria and Elizabeth II in Winnipeg amid anger over deaths of Indigenous children
The monuments were torn down during Canada Day celebrations, which marks the country's confederation
NewsRestitution
'There has been a generational shift': Belgian government to collaborate with Democratic Republic of Congo to return colonial-era loot
Bilateral accord to include projects to conserve, research, and store restituted items
NewsRestitution
Belgian experts frustrated at 'lack of initiative from museums and government' call for restitution of colonial-era acquisitions
New report provides guidelines for the return of artefacts to Africa, where Belgium controlled territory that was 80 times its size
NewsStatues
Oxford college will not remove controversial statue of British imperialist Cecil Rhodes
Independent commission recommends contextualising the sculpture instead
NewsPalestine
Artist Khaled Jarrar is selling handfuls of soil from Palestinian farmland—and has turned them into NFTs
The work draws attention to the desertification of agricultural land in Palestinian territory
NewsBenin Bronzes
Global survey: where in the world are the Benin bronzes?
Around 160 institutions hold looted Benin artefacts, but how many are prepared to give them back? We asked museums in five countries for their position on restitution
NewsRestitution
London’s Horniman Museum—home to 15 Benin bronzes—announces new ‘transparent procedures’ for looted object requests
South London museum has released new policies on restitution but says it will need to seek legal advice about the right to return artefacts
InterviewRestitution
Why African voices are crucial to the debate over the return of colonial loot
Senegalese art historian El Hadji Malick Ndiaye says discussions and decisions about the restitution of African artefacts cannot be dictated by the West
NewsMusée du Louvre
Louvre probes its collection for Nazi and colonial loot in massive provenance research project
Museum launches an online catalogue of 485,000 objects while curators comb through wartime acquisitions and works from former colonies
NewsRestitution
‘The movement is unstoppable’: African scholars and activists hail German plan to return Benin bronzes
“There is simply no moral ground for the confiscation of African artefacts in Western museums,” says the Cameroonian philosopher Achille Mbembe
NewsPublic art
Marc Quinn’s BLM protestor statue could be reinstalled on Bristol plinth that held slave trader monument
Sculpture of Edward Colston was pulled down by activists last summer and will now be placed in a museum
NewsNational Trust
National Trust's report on colonial and slavery history did not breach charity law, regulator says
Research commissioned by the trust provoked complaints from Conservative politicians amid UK culture war around controversial monuments
NewsRestitution
Forging ahead with historic restitution plans, Dutch museums will launch €4.5m project to develop a practical guide on colonial collections
Researchers will consider “various modes of return” for museum objects and how the process can help to reconcile with colonial past
NewsRestitution
Netherlands takes lead in Europe’s efforts to return artefacts to former colonies
The Dutch government adopts a committee’s “radical” guidelines, putting it at the forefront of European efforts to return colonial-era museum acquisitions
CommentMuseums
Could 2021 be the year of the African museum?
While the West continues to grapple with its colonial past, institutions from Togo to Cairo are creating more expansive models to celebrate art
NewsEducation
Oxford University’s All Souls College drops Christopher Codrington’s name from its library—but refuses to remove slave owner’s statue
Decision comes as scrutiny mounts over the university’s colonial legacy, including at Oriel College where a commission on Cecil Rhodes monument has been delayed
NewsRestitution
French restitution bill passes final hurdle in parliament
Vote by National Assembly paves the way for the return of 27 colonial-era artefacts to Benin and Senegal within one year, but “will not create a legal precedent”
Newscolonialism
Racist or responsive? Italy to exhume Mussolini's colonial museum collection in 'critical' new display
Alarmed post-colonial researchers have raised concerns over plans to open Museo Italo Africano "Ilaria Alpi" in late 2021
Newscolonialism
Somerset House to dig into its colonial past
Move follows release of National Trust’s slavery report, which was accused of following a ‘woke agenda’
NewsArt crime
Man tries to take artefact from Louvre—just two weeks after being charged for the same crime at Quai Branly
Congolese activist Emery Mwazulu Diyabanza, fined €1,000 earlier this month, will go to court again later today
NewsRestitution
Black Lives Matter movement is speeding up repatriation efforts, leading French art historian says
Bénédicte Savoy—co-author of the Sarr-Savoy report that recommends France return its African artefacts—warns of "collective amnesia" over restitution debates that happened 40 years ago
NewsGerman Museums
Germany to create central digital platform for museum objects acquired in colonial context
Measures agreed by government and states include a set of common standards for digital registers
NewsRestitution
Dutch government committee recommends return of colonial-era artefacts
The report calls for a new panel to advise the minister on repatriations and a new provenance research centre
NewsSlavery
Links to the slave trade found in more than 200 works belonging to UK Parliament, survey says
Review of state art collection is part of move to make it “more representative of diversity”
NewsRestitution
Leading Australian activist accuses British Museum of downgrading provenance of Aboriginal shield to prevent restitution
New text accompanying object removes mention that it was collected by Captain James Cook but museum says it doesn't alter its significance
NewsMuseums & Heritage
Debate flares as British Museum moves bust of slave-owning founder Hans Sloane
As part of the museum's efforts to address Britain’s colonial past, officials acknowledge that the collector "exploited slaves"
CommentMuseums & Heritage
'If a person of African descent wants a career in the arts—well, good luck'
Only by looking backwards can we start to tackle inequality in the arts sector, says Gus Casely-Hayford, the director of V&A East
NewsMonuments
Artist of African descent must create France's new slavery memorial, campaign group says
Culture ministry launches open call for monument that will be sited near the Musée du Louvre
NewsProtest
Oxford council says controversial Cecil Rhodes statue should go to museum after long-running stalemate
Thousands of protestors are demanding removal of statue of the Victorian imperialist from Oriel college
NewsMuseums
'Time to give back the swag, guys!' British Museum unleashes Twitter storm with statement on Black Lives Matter
London institution was criticised for proclaiming that it "stands in solidarity with the Black community" while continuing to resist calls to restitute colonial-era loot
Commentcolonialism
Edward Colston monument: 'UK must face the truth of what helped it become a mighty power'
Once it is fished out of the water in Bristol, the statue of slave trader Edward Colston should go in a museum. But what kind of a museum?, asks writer Bonnie Greer
NewsMonuments
Protesters topple monument to slave trader Edward Colston in Bristol—mayor wants to place it in a museum
Controversial statue was dismantled and thrown into the harbour during a Black Lives Matter rally
NewsPublic art
Sculpture confronting Germany's colonial past installed at Berlin’s long-awaited Humboldt Forum
Kang Sunkoo’s bronze Statue of Limitations shows a black flag at half-mast
NewsRestitution
France retreats from report recommending automatic restitutions of looted African artefacts
Suggestions from controversial Savoy-Sarr report were all-but buried at a conference held in Paris
InterviewHumboldt Forum
Berlin's Humboldt Forum: how its director plans to confront Germany’s colonial past
Hartmut Dorgerloh says institution will discuss presentation of non-Western art “together with critical friends and the communities”
NewsPhotography
Hamburg addresses German genocide in Namibia with photography exhibition
Show of Marc Erwin Babej’s work comes as Namibia calls on Germany to return cultural treasures
InterviewFrieze New York
On the road, from Iraq to Germany
The Iraqi-Kurdish artist Hiwa K on migration and contemporary politics
InterviewFrieze New York
Frieze Artist Award winner Kapwani Kiwanga takes on colonialism
Imposing open-air work made of African farming fabric opens at New York fair this week
NewsLooted art
Germany to fund museum investigations into provenance of colonial-era artefacts
The German Lost Art Foundation, which also looks into Nazi-loot, will allocate the government grants
PreviewExhibitions
The many faces of Australia’s colonial legacy unveiled across two shows
National Gallery of Victoria’s mega-shows range from art by convicts to contemporary indigenous work
NewsEthics
Should museums display human remains from other cultures?
Vienna’s Weltmuseum criticised for displaying a trophy head
ArchiveExhibitions
The luxuries of a vanished world of Maharajas are explored through over 250 objects at the V&A
Next month the V&A in London presents 'Maharaja: the Splendour of India’s Royal Courts'
ArchiveRestitution
British Museum, V&A, British Library and more face restitution claims as Ethiopia moves for Maqdala treasures
Treasures lost in the punitive sacking of Maqdala are subject to restitution claims
ArchiveBenin Bronzes
Benin bronzes finally united in Viennese comprehensive exhibition
Major show at the Museum für Völkerkunde includes loans from current Oba
ArchiveRestitution
Nelson Mandela “particularly proud" that the British Museum plans to open three new African galleries
His comments go against the current clamour for restitution
ArchiveExhibitions
Hans Haacke: But what does it all mean?
For his exhibition at the Serpentine, the conceptual artist has made an installation of art from the Victoria and Albert Museum and left its message open
ArchiveArt market
Books: Dutch colonialism comes home to roost as Indonesians buy back their own art
As interest in pre-colonial and colonial art grows, authors look to document Indonesian art
CommentDiary of an art historian
Visiting a historic house should be about more than just cream teas and crocuses—their full histories, however unsettling, should be told
Being told about National Trust houses' connections to slavery should not deter visitors: the complex history adds to their interest
Bendor Grosvenor