Hi there! I am Ito Osayimwese, a historian of African architecture. My book Africa's Buildings: Architecture and the Displacement of Cultural Heritage was recently published:
Between the nineteenth century and today, colonial officials, collectors, and anthropologists dismembered African buildings and dispersed their parts to museums in Europe and the United States. Most of these artifacts were cataloged as ornamental art objects, which erased their intended functions, and the removal of these objects often had catastrophic consequences for the original structures. Africa’s Buildings traces the history of the collection and distribution of African architectural fragments, documenting the brutality of the colonial regimes that looted Africa’s buildings and addressing the ethical questions surrounding the display of these objects.
I am excited to talk to you about the book and about the larger debate on restituting African art from US and European museums.
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