About the Project
In 2016, the Commonwealth Association of Museums (CAM), in collaboration with Iziko Museums of South Africa, the Museums Association of Namibia, and the National Museum of Botswana, initiated a project on Human Remains Management. In 2017, ICME (the International Committee for Museums and Collections of Ethnography), ICOMs Botswana, Namibia and South Africa, and the University of Botswana joined the collaboration and the initiative received special project funding from ICOM.
The ultimate goal of the project is to develop policy and guidelines for human remains management and repatriation in southern Africa in collaboration with museums, universities, governments, and Indigenous community members. This is a form of reconciliation for the collection of human remains for ‘research’ purposes to support prevalent theories of white supremacy in colonial times. In the early twentieth century museums in South Africa and Europe collected human remains, particularly from the San and Nama communities. Museums that have inherited ancestral remains acquired unethically, or indeed illegally, need to address past institutional wrongs, develop relationships with source communities, correct this situation, and support reconciliation. But this is not as simple as returning remains... to whom? and what happens to them once returned? These questions need to be addressed in an open dialogue.
This project incorporates internships in southern African museums, regional workshops and international meetings, collections-based research, discussion with regional and international experts, community consultations with source communities and a travelling exhibition.
The ultimate goal of the project is to develop policy and guidelines for human remains management and repatriation in southern Africa in collaboration with museums, universities, governments, and Indigenous community members. This is a form of reconciliation for the collection of human remains for ‘research’ purposes to support prevalent theories of white supremacy in colonial times. In the early twentieth century museums in South Africa and Europe collected human remains, particularly from the San and Nama communities. Museums that have inherited ancestral remains acquired unethically, or indeed illegally, need to address past institutional wrongs, develop relationships with source communities, correct this situation, and support reconciliation. But this is not as simple as returning remains... to whom? and what happens to them once returned? These questions need to be addressed in an open dialogue.
This project incorporates internships in southern African museums, regional workshops and international meetings, collections-based research, discussion with regional and international experts, community consultations with source communities and a travelling exhibition.
We have kept quiet about these issues because we didn’t know about them or we were ashamed. Every other group has histories like this, but they celebrate it, they show it, because it shows where they came from. History will not stand still and we need to show our past.
– David Tamay Mushavanga, Member of the San Council, Namibia, 2017.
