“African cultural heritage needs to be restituted.” This claim, widely voiced by African cultural and political actors since the independence era, has gained renewed visibility in recent years.

 

 Yet, beyond its apparent urgency, restitution remains a complex and multifaceted process that raises critical questions: What should be restituted, and to whom? Under what conditions? Can restitution ever be complete? And more importantly, what happens after return?

 

 Restitution… and then what? is an itinerant curatorial and research-based project initiated in 2024 that seeks to move beyond the moment of restitution itself, in order to examine its long-term cultural, social, and artistic implications across African and diasporic contexts.

 

 Combining exhibitions, public programs, and editorial formats, the project creates a space for dialogue between artists, researchers, and cultural practitioners, exploring how restitution contributes to the (re)construction of cultural identity, the reactivation of collective memory, and the transmission and reinterpretation of cultural heritage.

 

 Informed by ongoing research, including a Master’s thesis focusing on Benin as a case study following the restitution of 26 royal artifacts, the project adopts a transnational and forward-looking perspective, engaging with both material and immaterial dimensions of heritage and restitution.

 

By fostering critical reflection and exchange, it aims to address a key gap in current debates by shifting the focus from restitution as an event to restitution as an ongoing process shaping cultural futures, with particular attention to questions of heritage, sovereignty, transmission, and sustainable cultural development.​​​​​​​​