Restitution? - Africa's Fight for its Art: Now Streaming on Docuseek
Essential documentary films for higher education
Restitution? - Africa's Fight for its Art
82 min. | Subtitled
A film by Nora Philippe
"Through archival footage and present-day conversations with African and European art historians and cultural experts including Hamady Bocoum, Bénédicte Savoy, Felwine Sarr, Ben Okri and more, Philippe’s film explores the lasting cultural trauma that still reverberates throughout Africa."
The AFRO
A unique art-history saga, Restitution? - Africa's Fight for its Art recounts the troubling story of the African artwork that fills European museums, and whose return is now being demanded by their countries of origin.

Snatched up like trophies by colonizers, the works fertilized European art before acquiring recognition as universal masterpieces in their own right. But in Africa, their absence is still traumatic. Through the burning question of their possible restitution, the film invites us to reconsider both our cultural heritage and museums’ role in reinventing our relationship with Africa.

Should Western museums return cultural artifacts to the former colonies in Africa from which they originated? Millions of works of art, objects, but also archives and human remains are today in Western museums, on display or stored in warehouses. Meanwhile, pressure is mounting to acknowledge colonial atrocities and to proceed to reparations. In a thought-provoking montage of archival material and interviews with art historians, politicians and museum directors from both North and South, Restitution? - Africa's Fight for its Art uncovers some of the most pressing – and immensely complex – issues surrounding the decolonization of Western cultural institutions and their self-understanding.
Restitution? - Africa's Fight for its Art, from Cinétévé, is now streaming exclusively on Docuseek for education.

Licensing options are one-year, three-year and Life of File for Restitution? - Africa's Fight for its Art, and The Docuseek Complete Collection 3rd Edition. Contact us at sales@docuseek2.com for quotes, more information or questions.
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