The Restitution of Knowledge: artefacts as archives in the (post)colonial museum, 1850- 1939
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Oxford
Department Name: Pitt Rivers Museum
Abstract
See attachment
Organisations
- University of Oxford (Lead Research Organisation)
- University of Dschang (Collaboration)
- University of the Western Cape (Collaboration)
- University of Dakar (Collaboration)
- University of Ghana (Collaboration)
- Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Transport (Collaboration)
- African Foundation for Development (Collaboration)
- St Paul's Cathedral (Collaboration)
People |
ORCID iD |
| Dan Hicks (Principal Investigator) | |
| Benedicte Savoy (Co-Investigator) |
Publications
Dan Hicks
(2023)
The last remaining argument against restitution has now been lost
in The Art Newspaper
Dan Hicks
(2021)
Looted art must be returned - but on a case-by-case basis
in The Daily Telegraph
Dan Hicks
(2023)
The British Museum is an anachronism - here's how to fix it
in The Daily Telegraph
Dan Hicks
(2022)
The Risks That Lurk in Europe's "Scramble for Decolonization".
in Hyperallergic
Dan Hicks
(2020)
The UK government is trying to draw museums into a fake culture war
in The Guardian
Dan Hicks
(2022)
Hew Locke Challenges Empire in Birmingham
in Hyperallergic
Dan Hicks
(2022)
Unmasking a History of Colonial Violence in a German Museum
in Hyperallergic
Dan Hicks
(2020)
Why Colston Had to Fall
in Art Review
Dan Hicks
(2021)
Does George Osborne at the British Museum Signal a Dangerous Blow to the Arts?
in Elephant Magazine
Dan Hicks
(2020)
Fallism and restitution: Removing racist statues and returning looted art objects
in New African Magazine
| Description | The research has widened international public debates about the restitution of colonial-era looted artworks, material culture and ancestral remains. Through its focus on knowledge it has shown how restitution can form a part of wider memory cultures in European, North American and African societies. The research has played a key role in advancing public debates, public policy and public understanding of questions of return, repair, remembrance and reconciliation. |
| Exploitation Route | The research is inspiring further public debate about changes in legislation around returning objects from national museums, public remembrance of colonialism, and transparency and returns of ancestral remains in museums. |
| Sectors | Culture Heritage Museums and Collections |
| Description | The research has inspired a range of artistic responses, including collaborations with the artist Isaac Julien for his award-winning film One Again: Statues Never Die (filmed at the Pitt Rivers Museum in 2021) and the Turner Prize-nominated exhibition by Pio Abad at the Ashmolean Museum (again based on collaboration inspired by the reseaarch) |
| First Year Of Impact | 2021 |
| Sector | Creative Economy,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections |
| Impact Types | Cultural |
| Description | Partnerships with African- and African Diaspora research groups |
| Organisation | African Foundation for Development |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | Having established a research collaboration between Oxford and Berlin, the activity funded by this award led to new collaborations with African universities, which came during the course of the award to be funded through two large grants: of $1m from Open Society Foundations (2020-2024) and 1.5m Euro (from Volkswagen Stiftung, 2021-2025). These brought the AHRC/DFG-funded Oxford team into new collaborations with researchers based at five African insitutions: the University of the Western Cape (South Africa), University of Dakar (Senegal), University of Ghana, Dschang University (Cameroon) and the Arab Academy for Science, Technology & Maritime Transport (Egypt). In the UK we also built a collaboration with AFFORD-UK, and worked through them with the All Party Parliamentary Group on Restitution and Reparations. Leading on these applications our project team created new long-term collaborations on the themes of restitution and navigating the legacies of colonialism which foregrounded African perspectives and shaped public policy and public understanding. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Our team worked with these five institutions, as well as our colleagues in Berlin, on a series of public events and exhibitions in Berlin, Oxford, Liverpool, London, Cape Town, Dakar and beyond. By joining online and in-person events, and speaking together on radio, TV and print media news coverage, the group helped to shape international public understanding and policy around museums, restitution and knowledge of the colonial past. |
| Impact | There were a range of outputs, culminating in the Laying Ancestors to Rest: Policy Brief for the UK Parliament in March 2025. |
| Start Year | 2020 |
| Description | Partnerships with African- and African Diaspora research groups |
| Organisation | Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Transport |
| Country | Egypt |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Having established a research collaboration between Oxford and Berlin, the activity funded by this award led to new collaborations with African universities, which came during the course of the award to be funded through two large grants: of $1m from Open Society Foundations (2020-2024) and 1.5m Euro (from Volkswagen Stiftung, 2021-2025). These brought the AHRC/DFG-funded Oxford team into new collaborations with researchers based at five African insitutions: the University of the Western Cape (South Africa), University of Dakar (Senegal), University of Ghana, Dschang University (Cameroon) and the Arab Academy for Science, Technology & Maritime Transport (Egypt). In the UK we also built a collaboration with AFFORD-UK, and worked through them with the All Party Parliamentary Group on Restitution and Reparations. Leading on these applications our project team created new long-term collaborations on the themes of restitution and navigating the legacies of colonialism which foregrounded African perspectives and shaped public policy and public understanding. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Our team worked with these five institutions, as well as our colleagues in Berlin, on a series of public events and exhibitions in Berlin, Oxford, Liverpool, London, Cape Town, Dakar and beyond. By joining online and in-person events, and speaking together on radio, TV and print media news coverage, the group helped to shape international public understanding and policy around museums, restitution and knowledge of the colonial past. |
| Impact | There were a range of outputs, culminating in the Laying Ancestors to Rest: Policy Brief for the UK Parliament in March 2025. |
| Start Year | 2020 |
| Description | Partnerships with African- and African Diaspora research groups |
| Organisation | University of Dakar |
| Country | Senegal |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Having established a research collaboration between Oxford and Berlin, the activity funded by this award led to new collaborations with African universities, which came during the course of the award to be funded through two large grants: of $1m from Open Society Foundations (2020-2024) and 1.5m Euro (from Volkswagen Stiftung, 2021-2025). These brought the AHRC/DFG-funded Oxford team into new collaborations with researchers based at five African insitutions: the University of the Western Cape (South Africa), University of Dakar (Senegal), University of Ghana, Dschang University (Cameroon) and the Arab Academy for Science, Technology & Maritime Transport (Egypt). In the UK we also built a collaboration with AFFORD-UK, and worked through them with the All Party Parliamentary Group on Restitution and Reparations. Leading on these applications our project team created new long-term collaborations on the themes of restitution and navigating the legacies of colonialism which foregrounded African perspectives and shaped public policy and public understanding. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Our team worked with these five institutions, as well as our colleagues in Berlin, on a series of public events and exhibitions in Berlin, Oxford, Liverpool, London, Cape Town, Dakar and beyond. By joining online and in-person events, and speaking together on radio, TV and print media news coverage, the group helped to shape international public understanding and policy around museums, restitution and knowledge of the colonial past. |
| Impact | There were a range of outputs, culminating in the Laying Ancestors to Rest: Policy Brief for the UK Parliament in March 2025. |
| Start Year | 2020 |
| Description | Partnerships with African- and African Diaspora research groups |
| Organisation | University of Dschang |
| Country | Cameroon |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Having established a research collaboration between Oxford and Berlin, the activity funded by this award led to new collaborations with African universities, which came during the course of the award to be funded through two large grants: of $1m from Open Society Foundations (2020-2024) and 1.5m Euro (from Volkswagen Stiftung, 2021-2025). These brought the AHRC/DFG-funded Oxford team into new collaborations with researchers based at five African insitutions: the University of the Western Cape (South Africa), University of Dakar (Senegal), University of Ghana, Dschang University (Cameroon) and the Arab Academy for Science, Technology & Maritime Transport (Egypt). In the UK we also built a collaboration with AFFORD-UK, and worked through them with the All Party Parliamentary Group on Restitution and Reparations. Leading on these applications our project team created new long-term collaborations on the themes of restitution and navigating the legacies of colonialism which foregrounded African perspectives and shaped public policy and public understanding. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Our team worked with these five institutions, as well as our colleagues in Berlin, on a series of public events and exhibitions in Berlin, Oxford, Liverpool, London, Cape Town, Dakar and beyond. By joining online and in-person events, and speaking together on radio, TV and print media news coverage, the group helped to shape international public understanding and policy around museums, restitution and knowledge of the colonial past. |
| Impact | There were a range of outputs, culminating in the Laying Ancestors to Rest: Policy Brief for the UK Parliament in March 2025. |
| Start Year | 2020 |
| Description | Partnerships with African- and African Diaspora research groups |
| Organisation | University of Ghana |
| Country | Ghana |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Having established a research collaboration between Oxford and Berlin, the activity funded by this award led to new collaborations with African universities, which came during the course of the award to be funded through two large grants: of $1m from Open Society Foundations (2020-2024) and 1.5m Euro (from Volkswagen Stiftung, 2021-2025). These brought the AHRC/DFG-funded Oxford team into new collaborations with researchers based at five African insitutions: the University of the Western Cape (South Africa), University of Dakar (Senegal), University of Ghana, Dschang University (Cameroon) and the Arab Academy for Science, Technology & Maritime Transport (Egypt). In the UK we also built a collaboration with AFFORD-UK, and worked through them with the All Party Parliamentary Group on Restitution and Reparations. Leading on these applications our project team created new long-term collaborations on the themes of restitution and navigating the legacies of colonialism which foregrounded African perspectives and shaped public policy and public understanding. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Our team worked with these five institutions, as well as our colleagues in Berlin, on a series of public events and exhibitions in Berlin, Oxford, Liverpool, London, Cape Town, Dakar and beyond. By joining online and in-person events, and speaking together on radio, TV and print media news coverage, the group helped to shape international public understanding and policy around museums, restitution and knowledge of the colonial past. |
| Impact | There were a range of outputs, culminating in the Laying Ancestors to Rest: Policy Brief for the UK Parliament in March 2025. |
| Start Year | 2020 |
| Description | Partnerships with African- and African Diaspora research groups |
| Organisation | University of the Western Cape |
| Country | South Africa |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Having established a research collaboration between Oxford and Berlin, the activity funded by this award led to new collaborations with African universities, which came during the course of the award to be funded through two large grants: of $1m from Open Society Foundations (2020-2024) and 1.5m Euro (from Volkswagen Stiftung, 2021-2025). These brought the AHRC/DFG-funded Oxford team into new collaborations with researchers based at five African insitutions: the University of the Western Cape (South Africa), University of Dakar (Senegal), University of Ghana, Dschang University (Cameroon) and the Arab Academy for Science, Technology & Maritime Transport (Egypt). In the UK we also built a collaboration with AFFORD-UK, and worked through them with the All Party Parliamentary Group on Restitution and Reparations. Leading on these applications our project team created new long-term collaborations on the themes of restitution and navigating the legacies of colonialism which foregrounded African perspectives and shaped public policy and public understanding. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Our team worked with these five institutions, as well as our colleagues in Berlin, on a series of public events and exhibitions in Berlin, Oxford, Liverpool, London, Cape Town, Dakar and beyond. By joining online and in-person events, and speaking together on radio, TV and print media news coverage, the group helped to shape international public understanding and policy around museums, restitution and knowledge of the colonial past. |
| Impact | There were a range of outputs, culminating in the Laying Ancestors to Rest: Policy Brief for the UK Parliament in March 2025. |
| Start Year | 2020 |
| Description | Victor Ehikhamenor at St Paul's Cathedral - Exhibition |
| Organisation | St Paul's Cathedral |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | As part of the activity for this award, I built a collaboration with St Paul's Cathedral and the AHRC-funded project Pantheons: Sculpture at St Paul's Cathedral (University of York) to mark the 125th anniversary of the Benin attack of February 1897. Commissioning and installing a new artwork by leading Nigerian artist Victor Ehikhamenor in the Crypt at St Pauls, alongside a memorial to Admiral Rawson who led the attack, this activity promoting public understanding and debate about the public memory of colonial violence, dispossession and supremacist ideologies. The collaboration led to a major £160,000 award from Art Fund to acquire the specially-commissioned work "Still Standing" for the University of Oxford's Pitt Rivers Museum. |
| Collaborator Contribution | I commissioned the artwork and curated the installation. |
| Impact | £160,000 acquisition grant from Art Fund to acquire the work Still Standing by Victor Ehikhamenor |
| Start Year | 2022 |