Fifteen Colonial Thefts

Thu 20th Feb (9.30PM GMT – 4.30PM EST)

Donations welcome!

A show about restorative justice, restitution and reclamation!

The Ancestors are calling - far too long their essence has been kept from their kin and hidden away in a random vault in some European Museum, gathering dust or being auctioned off flippantly with no regards to the emotional, cultural, material and spiritual loss that descendants of victims continue to suffer in a 'cultural limbo' the world over!

Ancestral remains and looted artefacts, many of them used in sacred functions within African systems, were taken to Europe as 'war booty' for the 'conqueror' during the Scramble for Africa, apparently an acceptable practice at the time (as this was not a systemic practice observed in internecine European conflicts of the period).
In an age of restorative justice however, we have to keep asking the question why does those who preach the most about democratic values and human rights, seem so unwilling to do the right thing according to their own precepts?

We have that conversation about restitution and reclamation with 2 noted heavyweights in this area of activism; co-authors of the trail-blazing book 'Fifteen Colonial Thefts: A Guide to looted African heritage in Museums'.

Ghanaian artist and activist, Sela Adjei PhD, joins us with Dr Yann LeGall of Berlin's Technical University, to discuss their motivations and inspirations behind the publication of this seminal piece.

This is the first of a series of year-long conversations we will be having on various themes covered in the book, and we will be inviting as many of the contributors to the book as possible, to join us on each show to share with us their personal and historical experiences.