GHIL Lecture

Kokou Azamede

The Perception of Colonial Cultural Goods and Human Remains among Communities in the Former German Colony of Togo in the Context of the Restitution Debate

17 January 2024

(0:49 h)

GHIL Lecture

Kokou Azamede

The Perception of Colonial Cultural Goods and Human Remains among Communities in the Former German Colony of Togo in the Context of the Restitution Debate

GHIL Lecture, given 27 June 2023

The issue of restitution continues to animate public debate in both European and African societies. The search for ways and means to present the problem and to involve communities is becoming a challenge for some African leaders because opinions on the issue tend to diverge between the communities and social groups concerned, depending in part on the quality of information available to them. This lecture aims to show the perception of colonial cultural goods and human remains among communities of the former German colony of Togo, now located in Togo and Ghana, and how their positions have developed in response to the social changes that have occurred in their respective environments.

Dr Kokou Azamede is Associate Professor in the Department of German Studies of the University of Lomé. His research focuses on transcultural studies, German missions and colonialism, and German colonial photography in West Africa. He has received postdoctoral fellowships from the Hanns Seidel, Volkswagen, and Fritz Thyssen Foundations, as well as from the German Academic Exchange Service and the Merian Institute for Advanced Studies in Africa. He is the 2022 laureate of the Jakob and Wilhelm Grimm Award.

Don't miss the accompanying interview: In this GHIL podcast interview, GHIL Fellow for Colonial and Global History Mirjam Brusius and PR Officer Kim König talk to Kokou Azamede, Associate Professor at the Department of German Studies at the University of Lomé, about his work with local communities in the former German colony of Togo, which assesses their knowledge and perception of colonial cultural goods and human remains from their region. Azamede’s research shows new pathways to understanding and cooperation with a view to possible restitution.