Repatriates Collective. Tide of Returns

Debates over the return of cultural belongings that were plundered by European societies during the colonial era have usually been approached in terms of political and legal frameworks. Pressing beyond these institutional constraints, the Repatriates Collective examines how contemporary artists not only offer new ways of understanding cultural heritage, but create pathways to enact its return. Politically active in long term projects in Australia, Benin, Mexico, and Namibia, Repatriates is forged from and connected with communities involved in repatriations from European museums. Gathering the voices of artists, critics, curators, filmmakers, and historians, this book offers a range of approaches—from archival research to visual essays—that confront the challenges and possibilities involved in repatriation processes around the world today. Repatriates is an artistic research collective that responds to the complex cultural, emotional, and historical dimensions that accompany the return of objects from major museums in Europe to source communities in the Americas, Africa, and Oceania. The collective gathers multiple voices to produce a series of new artworks, books, exhibitions, films, and workshops that plot the significance and future potential of repatriated cultural heritage. Established and led by TBA21-Academy and located in the Church of San Lorenzo in Venice, Ocean Space is a planetary center for exhibitions, research and public programs catalyzing critical ocean literacy, collaborative research, and environmental advocacy through the arts.