Njabulo Chipangura, the inaugural Fall 2025 Repatriation and Restitution Fellow at The Africa Institute, Global Studies University, presented his research on African museum heritage at the “Heritage, Museums, Collections: Professionals’ Sharing of Skills between Africa and Europe” conference, held at the National Library of Rome from 25–27 September 2025.
His paper, “An Auto-ethnographic Account of Decolonised Museum Solidarities in the Global South & North,” drew on his curatorial experience in Zimbabwe and the UK. As Chipangura noted, “Even post-independent museums in Africa are still exhibiting cultures of the other as mundane, static, lifeless, and timeless.” The presentation highlighted collaborative projects with originating communities, including the 2016 co-curation of Traditional Aspects of the Eastern Shona at Mutare Museum, and public engagement with African diaspora communities at Manchester Museum, demonstrating how participatory approaches generate new narratives and meaning for African collections.
Chipangura’s work will be featured in a special issue on cooperation between African and European museums in Museum International, a journal on museum theory and practice published by Routledge and the International Council of Museums (ICOM).
The Repatriation and Restitution Fellowship, offered in collaboration with the Open Society Foundations, supports scholars and practitioners working on restitution and repatriation of African art and artifacts. Applications for the Fall 2026 fellowship are now open, with a deadline of April 1, 2026.
Njabulo Chipangura, the inaugural Fall 2025 Repatriation and Restitution Fellow at The Africa Institute, Global Studies University, presented his research on African museum heritage at the “Heritage, Museums, Collections: Professionals’ Sharing of Skills between Africa and Europe” conference, held at the National Library of Rome from 25–27 September 2025.
Njabulo Chipangura, the inaugural Fall 2025 Repatriation and Restitution Fellow at The Africa Institute, Global Studies University, presented his research on African museum heritage at the “Heritage, Museums, Collections: Professionals’ Sharing of Skills between Africa and Europe” conference, held at the National Library of Rome from 25–27 September 2025.
His paper, “An Auto-ethnographic Account of Decolonised Museum Solidarities in the Global South & North,” drew on his curatorial experience in Zimbabwe and the UK. As Chipangura noted, “Even post-independent museums in Africa are still exhibiting cultures of the other as mundane, static, lifeless, and timeless.” The presentation highlighted collaborative projects with originating communities, including the 2016 co-curation of Traditional Aspects of the Eastern Shona at Mutare Museum, and public engagement with African diaspora communities at Manchester Museum, demonstrating how participatory approaches generate new narratives and meaning for African collections.
Chipangura’s work will be featured in a special issue on cooperation between African and European museums in Museum International, a journal on museum theory and practice published by Routledge and the International Council of Museums (ICOM).
The Repatriation and Restitution Fellowship, offered in collaboration with the Open Society Foundations, supports scholars and practitioners working on restitution and repatriation of African art and artifacts. Applications for the Fall 2026 fellowship are now open, with a deadline of April 1, 2026.
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