Following what we learned at the symposium, the Fleming Museum is:
- Creating a proposal to formally remove from the collection the Benin Head of a Queen Mother in order to be prepare for its return. To do this, we are consulting with our Board Collections Committee, legal authorities, our colleagues in other museums, and members of our community. We would like to gather testimonials to support the return of the Benin head. If you would like to provide such a testimonial, please indicate your willingness to write such a testimonial in the questionnaire or indicate your permission for us to use your comments in support of the proposal.
- Creating advisory councils of students, faculty, and community members to guide our repatriation and restitution work going forward. Such groups may be involved in selecting new acquisitions of artworks by Black and Indigenous artists and rethinking the Museum’s collecting and display practices, among other efforts to make the Museum a more just and equitable institution. Please indicate in the questionnaire your interest in participating in this work.
- Building collaborative relationships with communities who have been excluded from Museum decisions in the past.
- Identifying ways that the Museum can be more transparent about the work that it is currently undertaking toward repatriation of objects and to make the histories of our collections public and accessible, in order to spur further institutional examination of restitution.
- Planning a follow-up event in Spring 2022 that will explore forms of restitution and reparations that extend beyond the return of objects. This event will be a screening of the film “White Cube,” followed by a panel discussion of artists, scholars, and community members.