The paper examines the way colonizer states make use of objects to build their relations with former colonized countries. This leads into a discussion about the role the materiality of these objects plays in said relationship, while further looking into the layered meanings they have.
It is crucial for both Germany and France to be perceived as acting ethically, and according to their own proclaimed values by the populations they are restituting objects.
The objects they are returning thus take on a new meaning being restituted.
The materials act as ambassadors, adding a level of symbolism to their specific materiality.
As such, (former)coloniser states can benefit from their former empires a final time, even if it is by disavowing it.
