Diaspora Flows of Cultural Artefacts to and from Africa

Abstract

• In this session we were pleased to welcome keynote speakers who are experts in their specialist research and engagement with Africa’s historic, material culture; architecture, artefacts and their involvement with the curation and presentation of heritage to the public both in the diaspora and in Africa. A key theme of this unique online conference is to open up the discussion about African heritage and its location, both physically and conceptually in today’s 21st century society. The heated restitution debates continue as the ongoing return of the Benin Bronzes, the corpus Christi Cockerel and other artefacts to the Royal House in Benin Nigeria aptly show. Where will they be placed? Who amongst the public will be able to view them, and ultimately is this now a new form of shared heritage? Whilst the Bronzes are the most prominent artefacts in the current media, how can we relate this to other forms of physical heritage; the sites and architecture of places such as great Zimbabwe, West African textiles created from the dye pits of Kano, and various forms of local craftwork resulting in woven and clay artefacts for example? Also taking the reverse view, the textile processes that have led to “Dutch” and “Manchester” wax prints have led to large to African markets, are these processes accessible to the public view in Africa? Also do these exist in the now post-industrial towns such as Manchester and Hamburg who were central to their production? Should we instead be talking of a ‘shared heritage’ ? If not, how best can we describe this fluid process of cultural transfer, and as keepers, recipients, and curators of this heritage how best can we engage various publics with these artefacts and the associated intangible culture often related to this.