Africa's buildings : architecture and the displacement of cultural heritage / Itohan I. Osayimwese.

Author/creator Osayimwese, Itohan author
Format Book
PublicationPrinceton : Princeton University Press, [2025]
Copyright Date©2025
Descriptionvii, 255 pages, 32 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (some color), plans ; 25 cm
Subjects

Contents Museums and the architecture of restitution -- Ornament and crime -- Structure and destruction -- "Anonymous has a name" : unspecified building parts in Western collections -- Coda. The exquisite corpse.
Abstract "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... Africa's Buildings uncovers the vast scale of cultural displacement perpetrated by the West and proposes a new role for museums in this history, one in which they champion the repatriation of Africa's architectural heritage and restitution for African communities" -- Dust jacket.
Bibliography noteIncludes bibliographical references (pages 226-241) and index.
ISBN9780691251431
ISBN0691251436
ISBN(electronic book)

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