Mark Elliott, the museum’s senior curator in anthropology, described the repatriation as “very much a museum-to-museum collaboration”, resulting from years of discussions about returning objects deemed “exceptionally powerful and exceptionally sensitive to the communities whose belongings they were”.
The University of Cambridge has repatriated over three dozen traditional artefacts to Uganda in a significant act of restitution welcomed by local officials. Some of these objects were shown exclusively to AP journalists on Wednesday.
The British university returned the 39 items, which include tribal regalia and delicate pottery, to the East African country on Saturday.
These items will remain part of the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology’s collection at Cambridge but are being loaned to Uganda for an initial period of three years.
These artefacts will stay part of the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology’s collection at Cambridge but will be loaned to Uganda for an initial period of three years.
Ugandan curators selected the objects, which make up a small fraction of the roughly 1,500 ethnographic items from Uganda that Cambridge has owned for a century.
Most of these items were acquired through donations from private collections, with many contributed by an Anglican missionary active in Uganda during the 1890s and early 20th century.
Following Uganda’s declaration as a British protectorate in 1894, it gained independence in 1962.
Mark Elliott emphasised, “It’s about returning these objects to the Ugandan people after being away for so long.”
Moving forward, he added, “Our next step is to research their current significance and assist in deciding their future.”
The Uganda Museum in Kampala is set to host a temporary exhibition of these artifacts next year.
Jackline Nyiracyiza, Uganda’s government commissioner overseeing museums and monuments, mentioned that the agreement with Cambridge allows for renewal, potentially leading to a permanent loan or even local ownership of the artefacts.
“Sixty years have passed for us to reclaim these 39 objects,” she stated. “We are currently collaborating with the Cambridge team to initiate discussions with other museums, with hopes of repatriating more items next year or in the near future.”
Ugandan officials first visited Cambridge in 2022 amid increasing demands by African governments for accountability regarding looted items of cultural and aesthetic significance dating back to the colonial era.
In other parts of Africa, such as Nigeria, successful restitution efforts have taken place in recent years.
Nelson Abiti, principal curator of the Uganda Museum, hailed the Cambridge agreement as a breakthrough that could set an example for other museums holding ethnographic items from Uganda. ”
This marks the largest single return of objects to the African continent in recent years,” Abiti emphasised.
However, restitution remains a challenge for African governments, prompting the African Union to prioritise the return of looted cultural property, aiming to establish a unified policy on the matter.
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