Open Society's Global Convening for the Restitution of African Heritage
Accra, Ghana

August 22 - August 24, 2023

The W.E.B. Du Bois Memorial Centre for Pan African Culture

 

 

About the
Convening

In recent years, the long struggle for the restitution of African Heritage which started during colonization entered a new phase and in 2017, there was a resurgence of the movement which urged lawmakers, private collectors, and museums to expedite objects illicitly taken from the African continent during the colonial-period. It is critical that at this moment, where there is a global pressure to repatriate African heritage, that there is a global alliance of stakeholders that through advocacy and negotiation can see returns through.

Against this backdrop, Open Society Foundations Global Initiative for the Restitution for African Cultural Heritage convening, is focused on interrogating key questions to continue to advance and build a resilient and sustainable restitution movement. This three-day summit, hosted by Culture and Art, will feature opening and closing plenary sessions, interactive thematic sessions, performances, and networking opportunities for key stakeholders including, representatives from the African Union, ECOWAS, NGOs, UN agencies, artists, academia, creative communities, civil society and the African diaspora.  

 

 

 

About W.E.B Du Bois Center 

Classified as a national monument since November 1985, the center is made up of four main buildings: the house where Dr. Du Bois spent his last years (this now contains a seminar room and a library), an administrative building, the Marcus Garvey guest house, and the Grave of Dr. Du Bois and his wife, Shirley Graham Du Bois. 

The library contains 21 works written by him as well as over a thousand books that belonged to him and a collection of works related to Dr. Du Bois and Pan-Africanism.

 

About Open Society Foundations

The Open Society Foundations, founded by George Soros, are the world’s largest private funder of independent groups working for justice, democratic governance, and human rights. We approach this mission through the illuminating principles of justice, equity, and expression—defining characteristics of any truly open society.

The Open Society Foundations champions the search for bold, democratic solutions to our urgent, common challenges that advance justice, equity, and human dignity.

We do this by supporting a wide array of independent voices and organizations around the world that provide a creative and dynamic link between the governing and the governed.

Our approach seeks to counter the narrow pursuit of political self-interest and short-term opportunism—in pursuit of a sustainable future for people and planet that leaves no one behind.