Museum Restitution

The Ancestral Remains Ethical Rights Enabler Course

What is Restitution?

Restitution is the act of returning a lost or stolen object of historic or cultural significance to its country or community of origin. It is a means of doing justice for past wrongs, but it can be a sensitive and complicated process.

Restitution restores the claimant otherwise known as the artefact/human remains/archive/specimen/collections etc, to the position it was in before the defendant otherwise known as colonial masters/museums/imperialists/European heritage sectors/capitalism etc, had been unjustly enriched at its expense. 

Museum Restitution Course

The Ancestral Remains Ethical Rights Enabler course was born out of a need to address one of many injustices and inhumane treatments that contribute to the dissolution of cultural identity for African heritage people in Britain and similarly impacted heritage groups. The body parts of our ancestors lie incarcerated in Museums across Britain unbeknown to its citizens, let alone the actual African heritage communities from which they were violently removed. As such, the course facilitates the training of participants to become Ancestral Remains Ethical Rights Enablers. This not only provides sharing of the knowledge on the matter and the historical resonance of these subjects prior to their incarceration, but more importantly allows the community to speak and petition on behalf of the deceased to be liberated.

Why Do We Need This Course?

Ancestral Remains held as items of display for entertainment is problematic. With this in mind, the Museum Restitution course creates a pathway for ethical and corrective measures to step in through the voices and efforts of descendants from the African diasporic community to intervene in the unfair incarceration of stolen tangible and intangible cultural intelligentsia.

The cultural treasures and knowledge systems from Africa that were stolen displaced, disposed and dis-positioned especially in the case of Human remains, is a humanitarian issue. As such, it must be treated with the same universal justice owed to other nations. This ethical bridge must lend itself not only for the living, but also what is perceived as the dead, the tangible and intangible.

Enrol To Our Museum Restitution Course

In OUR commitment to continue to support the community in OUR self repair initiative, Decolonising the Archive (DTA) is offering a limited number of Scholarships, bursaries and spaces for a new stand-alone module following on from the Correcting Our Collecting community archive training.  

We invite those who are interested from within African heritage communities to become Ancestral Remains Ethical Rights Enablers. This will involve intensive sessions over 4 weeks, covering the subject matter of African and Indigenous Ancestral Remains held in Museums and their connection to our broader reparations and restitution struggle.

The course addresses issues of cultural amnesia, historical inequities and the basic BASIC right to a humane burial. It will be facilitated by national and international experts and lived experience scholars. 

As scholarships and spaces are limited, we advise that this be shared with those who are committed to making positive changes to this issue and those who are able to deal with the gravity of the subject matter.

To find out more and to request an application form email: team@decolonisingthearchive.com

#ACTION NOT A BAG A MOUTH

Public Awareness Sessions

DTA will be offering a series of Public Knowledge sharing and Awareness Sessions to support our scholarship scheme whereby we give full scholarships to attend the course and gain certificates.

Date: January 23rd, 2025 

Tickets go live 23rd December 2024