Open Restitution Africa

Our Open Data Platform gives you the tools to support African restitution work. Explore 200 years of research & 25 cases across 12 countries with AI-powered tools. Each journey is unique, and the lessons are now open to all. 🌍 🔗dataplatform.openrestitution.africa #ORAOpenDataPlatform

Watch the walkthrough to see how it works:
youtu.be/qFjU8fBEKVc?si… Explore the platform:
dataplatform.openrestitution.africa #OpenRestitutionAfrica #ORAOpenDataPlatform

Restitution Journeys brings together: 
• A timeline showing key years
• Colour-coded journeys for each case study
• Nodes marking key events within each journey These elements help trace patterns across more than two centuries of restitution activity.

Restitution Journeys is one of the four core features of the Open Restitution Africa Data Platform. It is an interactive visualisation mapping over 200 years of restitution across Africa, bringing multiple case studies into a single timeline.

Today, the ORA Open Data Platform goes live — six years in the making. Six years of research, collaboration and determination to make restitution knowledge accessible across Africa. 🔗dataplatform.openrestitution.africa #ORAOpenDataPlatform

This is a living resource, shaped by those closest to the work — ready for researchers, advocates, institutions, and communities. 
🔗 dataplatform.openrestitution.africa

The platform includes four main components: Restitution Journeys Case Studies Dashboard Query the Data These four tools allow you to gain an overview of and understand the data as well as filter through, compare and analyse, and ask questions with our own Al powered tool.

Our data platform brings all this knowledge together, highlighting how restitution is not a single story. It unfolds across communities, countries and decades and each journey carries histories of loss, advocacy and persistence. #ORAOpenDataPlatform

We have explored the decisions, negotiations + conditions that shape these processes + how knowledge is shared and built across contexts. Our work shows the journeys of cultural belongings + ancestral remains, the connections to communities + the persistence behind each return.

Tomorrow, our Open Data Platform goes live. It is a first-of-its-kind space for exploration, learning and collaboration. Over six years, Open Restitution Africa has engaged with practitioners and communities to document how restitution is experienced in practice.

These conversations revealed a structural challenge: knowledge about restitution was often concentrated within museums, institutional archives and policy spaces, where access was limited and documentation uneven. #RestitutionDialogues

As we prepare to launch the Open Restitution Africa Open Data Platform on 31st March 2026, we return to where this thinking began. In 2020, Restitution Dialogues brought together African scholars and practitioners to reflect on restitution in practice. #OpenRestitutionAfrica

Regardez l’épisode 4 de Restitution 101 sur YouTube✨ « Où Sommes-Nous Maintenant ? » examine le paysage mondial actuel de la restitution - jusqu'où le travail est allé, les principaux développements, les défis et le travail encore nécessaire. youtu.be/ah08PxWY38s?si…

We are LIVE now! on Zoom. zoom.us/j/98166421904?…

Due to technical issues, our IG Live conversation has been moved to Zoom and will now be taking place tomorrow! 📅 Tuesday 17th March
 🕒 12:30 GMT | 13:30 WAT | 14:30 SAST
 📍 zoom.us/j/98166421904?…

Episode 4 of Restitution 101 is LIVE ✨ "Where Are We Now?" examines the current global landscape of restitution — how far the work has come, key developments, challenges and the work still required. 🎬 Available in English + French youtube.com/watch?v=9H9UDq… #Restitution101

Episode 4 of our Restitution 101 Series is coming very soon!✨ In this Episode, we ask “Where Are We Now?” and explore the current global landscape of restitution, the progress that has been made and the work that still lies ahead. @openrestitutionafrica" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">youtube.com/@openrestituti…