"Restitution is not just about objects" - New Video online!

During his lecture at the Freiburg Africa Talk in November, Dr Richard Tsogang Fossi shed light on the ongoing efforts to restitute cultural artefacts and human remains from German collections. Although the issue has received less media attention since the official return of many of the so-called Benin bronzes to Nigeria in 2022, it continues to generate controversy between actors in North and South.

In his keynote speech and discussion with Dr Fiona Siegenthaler, Africa consultant at the Linden-Museum in Stuttgart, Tsogang Fossi attempted to take stock, draw an interim balance and at the same time highlight the intertwined colonial history of Germany and Cameroon.

In addition to the recording of the Africa Talk, another ACT-in-Video production is now available on the university's media portal. In this contribution, Richard Tsogang Fossi does not simply recount the history of looting and plundering in the former German protectorate, but builds a bridge to the here and now. The far-reaching effects of the monetary policy implemented in the colonies at the end of the 19th century become particularly clear here and that restitution is about much more than mere objects.

The video is available here at the media portal.