#Restitutions: Legislating to make amends

While the restitution of works of art and cultural property meets a moral and historical requirement, the legal framework surrounding it remains incomplete and often conflicting. Most of the objects concerned were acquired in contexts of colonial domination or unequal exchanges, at a time when there were no international standards on cultural property. Between principles of inalienability, the absence of binding standards and ad hoc legislative initiatives, the law still struggles to meet the demand for historical justice that restitution represents.

The UNESCO (1970) and UNIDROIT (1995) conventions laid essential foundations for combating illicit trafficking and promoting the return of cultural property, but their scope remains limited. As they are not retroactive, they do not apply to past spoliations, and the absence of a binding framework leaves States with a wide margin of discretion, leading to diplomatic solutions on a case-by-case basis.

Several proposals for framework laws have emerged to clarify restitution procedures, strengthen bilateral cooperation and place these efforts within a context of historical reparation. In France, where public collections are imprescriptible and inalienable, recent restitutions have required ad hoc laws, highlighting the urgent need for a general framework that guarantees transparency and consistency.

Rima Abdul Malak, former Minister of Culture, who initiated the 2023 bill on African cultural property, human remains and cultural property looted in the context of anti-Semitic persecution between 1900 and 1945, and Vincent Négri, HDR researcher at the Institute for Social Sciences of Politics, will come together for this second meeting in the series. During this conversation, they will explore the challenges of legislation on the restitution of African cultural property, the right to memory and cultural reappropriation, in the service of historical justice and sustainable intercultural dialogue.

At the intersection of arts and sciences, the programme ‘Arts - Worlds in Action, Worlds in Reflection’ aims to encourage collective reflection and invention. By creating opportunities for scientific research and artistic creation to meet, promoting cooperation between the humanities and social sciences and the arts, organising collaboration between these disciplines and artistic, cultural and heritage institutions, and building dialogue with society, this programme aims to enrich our understanding of many contemporary issues.

→ Learn more