Examining restitution and repatriation options for cultural artefacts: an empirical enquiry in South Africa

ABSTRACT

This paper examines some of the ethical issues and repatriation options related to the return of museum artefacts taken from African countries, mostly during the colonial era. In the context of a relatively new democracy, like South Africa, determining the value of cultural artefacts held in foreign collections, and thus the urgency and priority of their repatriation, may be important. Using a value-based approach, this paper details the design and results of an empirical enquiry into a range of repatriation and restitution options intended to affect the return of cultural artefacts to South Africa. An invited online survey and focus group approach was deployed to investigate attitudes, experiences and the nature of the demand for repatriation, amongst South African museum curators and collection managers. Findings showed that acceptable repatriation options depend crucially on the class of artefacts being discussed, as well as the values being sought.

KEYWORDS:

• Museum artefacts
• repatriation
• South Africa
• heritage professionals
• survey

Acknowledgments

The research on which this article was based was funded by the South African Cultural Observatory, which is supported by the South African Department of Sport, Arts and Culture.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. For an alternative, but largely overlapping overview of the options see Yu (2018).

Additional information

Funding

This work is supported by the South African Cultural Observatory.

Notes on contributors

Jen Snowball

Jen Snowball is a Professor of Economics at Rhodes University, South Africa. She is also the Chief Research Strategist at the South African Cultural Observatory (SACO), which is a national research organisation funded by the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture. Her research in cultural economics has included developing and testing a framework for the monitoring and evaluation of publicly funded arts and culture, cultural mapping studies, employment in the cultural and creative industries, and international trade in cultural goods and services in emerging markets. She is a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Cultural Economics, the journal managed by the Association for Cultural Economics International (ACEI).

Alan Collins

Alan Collins is Professor of Economics and Public Policy and Head of the Department of Economics at Nottingham Trent University, UK. His research interests are in the economics of public policy as it impacts culture, the built and rural environment and well-being. He has recently served as the President of the Association of Cultural Economics International (ACEI) and in that field has undertaken work on digital piracy, the film industry, effectiveness of public subsidy, international trade in cultural artefacts and the illegal trade in ivory for antiques and craft markets.

Enyinna Nwauche

Enyinna Nwauche is Professor of Lat the University of Fort Hare, South Africa. His research interests cover the intersection of constitutional culture and community. This research interest has led to work in the area of intellectual and indigenous property including copyright; geographical indications; heritage; traditional cultural expressions; traditional knowledge associated with genetic resources; customary land tenure and African traditional religion.