Why a museum is showcasing thousands of artefacts of unknown origins
Museum puts looted artefacts on display to spark discussion on reparations
- Manchester Museum has unveiled a new gallery, Africa Hub, to address the colonial-era acquisition and potential restitution of its vast collection of African artefacts.
- The museum holds over 40,000 African objects, many acquired during the British Empire through trade, confiscation, and outright looting, with most previously kept in storage.
- Co-creator Sylvia Mgbeahurike from the Igbo Community Greater Manchester said that some items were given, some stolen, and some taken forcefully.
- The Africa Hub gallery aims to spark discussions on whether artefacts should be returned to their communities of origin or shared in new ways, and is seeking public input to identify items.
- The initiative aligns with growing global demands for Western institutions to return looted artefacts and ancestral remains as part of reparations for colonialism and slavery.