Restitution: Between Containment and Cooperation

Abstract

Museum practice has been shaped decisively in recent years by a ‘collaborative turn’. Celebrated with optimism and critiqued with wariness alike, collaboration has become central to how anthropological museums approach their work. Beyond individual collaborative projects, museums are now facing the deeper challenge of structural change. When it comes to restitution, collaboration can open up meaningful pathways. At the same time, however, restitution constitutes and in many ways exposes the limits of collaboration. This article explores the potentials and boundaries of collaboration in the context of restitution. While many structural challenges remain unresolved, the paper argues that there are possibilities to reshape restitution in more ethical terms, and that museums have the agency to do so.