Return of the Icons – Key issues and recommendations around the restitution of stolen African artefacts

AFFORD’s Return of the Icons programme is exploring and taking forward key conversations around cultural artefacts – and human remains – held by UK museums and other institutions, their preservation and campaigns for their eventual return to their countries of origin.

British museums, libraries, and other cultural institutions hold unique collections of art, artefacts, and historical treasures from around the world as a
result of Britain’s colonial past. Now, as UK foreign policy goals shift towards a vision of a Global Britain, how controversial issues around cultural patrimony and heritage are handled will increasingly come under the spotlight.