Project description
The restitution of colonial looted art and the decolonization of European museums
Western museums guard a vast trove of cultural treasures taken from the Global South during colonial times – a legacy often brushed aside as legal by the standards of that era. But what if some of these acts were never lawful? Supported by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the RestArt project dares to ask this uncomfortable question. Focusing on African artefacts, it digs deep into international law, unearthing overlooked legal gaps and amplifying voices rarely heard, particularly those of women from communities of origin. The findings will offer Europe clear, practical guidelines for returning stolen heritage and rebuilding trust between former colonisers and colonised.
Objective
The near-monopoly that Western museums have over the possession of the Global South’s cultural heritage represents one of the continuities between the age of colonialism and our time. The common argument of former colonial powers is that, although morally appalling, colonialism was not illegal according to the standards of the time. This leaves unanswered questions regarding possible forms of accountability and the degree of legal responsibility of present-day European states. RestArt challenges this common argument by hypothesizing that at least a part of the colonial practices of domination by Western states was illegal during colonial time. It focuses on the return of African colonial artefacts as a form of redress and relation-building process between the Global South and former colonial states. It innovatively identifies and addresses important gaps in our knowledge by conducting an interdisciplinary investigation into the status of cultural colonial objects held in European museums under international law, analyses recent legal developments in European states and unpacks the legal requests of repatriation of African cultural heritage. RestArt will incorporate and interrogate the legal stance of the communities of origin of colonial artefacts -and especially female voices- on the restitution of cultural colonial objects, an aspect of absolute novelty in the current discourse. RestArt also aims at presenting policy-oriented guidelines to European States and EU institutions to deal with the return of colonial cultural objects. The project will be supervised by Prof. Valérie Rosoux, an international authority in disciplines relating to the legacies of colonialism. Through the training program, the candidate will qualify as a researcher at the intersection of law, political science and post-colonial studies enriching his profile through interdisciplinary research.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
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CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
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Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
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Call for proposal
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Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2024-PF-01
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
1348 LOUVAIN LA NEUVE
Belgium
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.