Repatriating African art
July 13, 2024 8:27 PM
I am clearing out an estate that includes items bought in Africa between the 1960s and 1990s. As far as I know, these were all acquired legally by the standards of the time (of course, standards have changed). Our goal is for them to be repatriated if at all possible. Ideally, I'd like to find one expert or organization who can help us figure out the best place for these things to land and/or connect us with people who can do that.
The items include carvings, masks, mud cloths, and more. Some may be tourist items. Some have been appraised as having monetary value. Most of them are from Western Africa. They're not all from the same country or culture though, which complicates the "one expert" idea. We've got things from Mali, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, and possibly other places. All the items are physically located in San Diego; we have photos of them but I'm sure that somebody evaluating them would want to see them in person.
Where should we start and who might be able to help?
The items include carvings, masks, mud cloths, and more. Some may be tourist items. Some have been appraised as having monetary value. Most of them are from Western Africa. They're not all from the same country or culture though, which complicates the "one expert" idea. We've got things from Mali, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, and possibly other places. All the items are physically located in San Diego; we have photos of them but I'm sure that somebody evaluating them would want to see them in person.
Where should we start and who might be able to help?
I have been thinking about the high cost of shipping things to at least a few African countries where I've lived. There's both the cost for the sender, of shipping, and the cost for the recipient, of paying for customs inspections. The best way I know of to bring things to other countries is by hand carrying in luggage. Is that even practical? I don't know what monetary value means in this context: a few hundred dollars? A few thousand? More? If you have one or two items that are of extremely high value and not made for the tourist market, you might consider reaching out to one or two top museums in the associated country and offering it as a donation. But I'd say it'd need to be really valuable to do that, and then they might be able to help you figure out logistics.
If these things aren't of that high of value or you can't hand carry them, then I would encourage you to reach out to diaspora groups in southern California, for each individual country of origin. If there's not a sizeable group in your area, then find one in the US, somewhere. In this case, you could offer these items as a donation and with a cash donation.
You could also sell them and donate the proceeds to a reputable non-profit based in one or more of those countries.
(I also see my answer here is similar to what I said in the other thread linked above.) If the issue here is, "I don't feel comfortable owning or selling these African items," I totally get it, but the answer isn't necessarily getting them back to West Africa, which is potentially expensive and complicated. Sometimes the things we don't want aren't wanted by others in a way we want, you know?
posted by bluedaisy at 11:02 AM on July 15, 2024
If these things aren't of that high of value or you can't hand carry them, then I would encourage you to reach out to diaspora groups in southern California, for each individual country of origin. If there's not a sizeable group in your area, then find one in the US, somewhere. In this case, you could offer these items as a donation and with a cash donation.
You could also sell them and donate the proceeds to a reputable non-profit based in one or more of those countries.
(I also see my answer here is similar to what I said in the other thread linked above.) If the issue here is, "I don't feel comfortable owning or selling these African items," I totally get it, but the answer isn't necessarily getting them back to West Africa, which is potentially expensive and complicated. Sometimes the things we don't want aren't wanted by others in a way we want, you know?
posted by bluedaisy at 11:02 AM on July 15, 2024
I think what I'm looking for is someone to help with the process. We actually have a bunch of Ethiopian stuff too, and we've done exactly what bluedaisy suggests: We contacted an Ethiopian community organization in the area and they're interested in taking the whole collection. The roadblocks to dealing with the West African stuff are that we know less about it, and what we do know is that it comes from so many different places.
posted by expialidocious at 8:23 AM on July 19, 2024
posted by expialidocious at 8:23 AM on July 19, 2024
I would contact some of the folks in Balboa Park (so maybe the Museum of Us, which has a whole decolonizing initiatives project?) or a local university (maybe this professor at UCSD?). I'm guessing that those folks would be able to point you to an expert.
posted by librarylis at 1:25 PM on July 20, 2024
posted by librarylis at 1:25 PM on July 20, 2024
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posted by Harvey Kilobit at 10:33 PM on July 13, 2024