By Pastor Richard Tembo.
London. (News of The South) January 11 and 12, 2020 saw the Kenyan community bringing together their citizens as well as others from various back grounds to attend a very prestigious conference themed Changing the Narrative Heritage and Culture.
The purpose of the conference was to discuss various issues related to African history from the time of colonisation as well as repatriation of the African traditional and cultural artefacts, including human remains which were taken away from the continent by colonialists. Informer East Africa Newspapers and British Museum on Colonialism were the hosts of this conference held at Africa Centre in London.
Various speakers spoke passionately about what history says of the events that led to Africa being where it is today both demographically and economically which brought monumental social disparity between the colonisers and the colonised.
Of great interest and inspirational was the presence of the governor from Kenya whose journey was sponsored by the National government of Kenya and also a Barrister from the same country. This epitomized how important the government of Kenya viewed the issue of repatriation, heritage and culture of their nation.
The aftermath of the conference brought with it a proposition for the formation of an Africa Committee of Repatriation to make Africa put their heads and resources together and work towards embracing continental diversity in terms of tradition and culture. Our repatriation will not be ours alone and so with Kenya and or any other countries wishing to pursue repatriation in future, the structure and functions will be announced soon.
The conference was very informative educative. Impressive was the fact that Zimbabwe was not left out of discussion as attractive presentation was made explaining part of the history of colonisation of the country by Britain as well as briefing the audience on how farZimbabwe has gone with repatriation exercise since it was started.
In anticipation of Zimbabwe ‘s Director of Museums and Monuments Dr Mahachi coming to London sometime in February, two or 3 members of the repatriation committee led by traditional leader Chief Makoni are also expected to attend and push forward the issue of repatriation of the remains of Zimbabwe’s First Chimurenga war heroes.
Zimbabweans are hoping the process can be completed possibly before the countrys’s 40th Independence celebrations in April.
Archives, libraries and museum collections are places where knowledge is stored, negotiated and contested. This panel will explore the issues around the possession and ordering of archives, libraries and collections in the context of colonialism.
Speakers for the discussions on Archives and museum collections were Nicky Sugar – British Empire and Commonwealth Collection at Bristol Archives; JC Niala – African Collections Researcher at the Horniman Museum; Onyeka Igwe – Artist-filmmaker working with colonial era archives; Paul O’Connor – Director, Pat Finucane Centre; Abira Hussein – Researcher and Producer, working on NOMAD, a digital Somali archive; Marion Wallace – Lead Africa Curator at the British Library and Chair of SCOLMA (UK Libraries and Archives Group on Africa)
The public debate around repatriation has been gaining ground, partly following a report commissioned by the French president Emmanuel Macron which recommended the full restitution of looted objects to Africa. This panel will explore the issues around the repatriation of museum objects acquired during colonialism.
The panel for Repatriation included Charlotte Joy – Horniman Museum and Goldsmiths Lecturer in Anthropology; Chao Tayiana – Founder African Digital Heritage, Co-Founder Museum of British Colonialism; Geoffrey Robertson QC – Human Rights Barrister, Academic, Author and Broadcaster, Founder and Joint Head of Doughty Street Chambers; Princess Eugene Majuru – Princess of Harare and African Cultural Ambassador.
Decolonisation
In 1987 Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o made a call to ‘decolonise the mind’. In recent times, decolonisation has become a buzzword in all things from university curricula to Extinction Rebellion. In this panel, we will introduce what decolonisation means, and explore how legacies of Western dominance have placed limits on our ability to understand the world.
Speakers for decolonisation session were Meera Sabaratnam- SOAS Lecturer in International Relations and Chair of the Decolonising SOAS Working Group; Maya Goodfellow – Writer, Research and Academic; Johanna Zetterstrom-Sharp – Deputy Keeper in Anthropology at the Horniman Museum; Nicola Stylianou – Post Doctoral Research Fellow: Making African Connections, University of Sussex.
Reparations
The global movement for reparations condemns colonialism as a crime and demands redress for historic injustices. This panel will explore continued claims for reparations for slavery and colonial exploitation and consider how we can galvanise these movements towards the creation of a radically fairer world.
Speakers for reparations panel were Professor Chepkwony – Governor for Kericho County, Kenya; Professor Chege Githiora – SOAS Lecturer in Swahili, and Gĩkũyũ translator during the Mau Mau court case in London; Tom Will – Traidcraft Exchange; Nikita Bernardi – Kenyan-Italian communications specialist.
Fostering UK-Africa Collaborations
UK-Africa collaborations have the potential to facilitate the exchange of knowledge and mutual understanding. In this panel, we will explore the different methodologies and challenges to collaborations between the UK and Africa, in the areas of diplomacy, arts and culture and movements for social justice.
Speakers for the session on fosetring Africa and UK relations were: Nadine Patel – Head of UK Partnerships & Programmes for sub Saharan Africa Arts Group at the British Council; Julius Mbaluto – Founding and Editor of Informer East Africa Newspaper; Olivia Windham Stewart and Chao Tayiana – Co-founders of Museum of British Colonialısm; Dr Pauline Long – Entrepreneur and philanthropist; Sheila Ruiz – Deputy Director of the Royal African Society.
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