The stated aim was to enable repatriation to the countries of origin, provided that such a course was also desired by them. Scientists from Rwanda played an important role in this research, and the present volume is largely a joint publication.
This endeavour was only made possible by the generous support of the Gerda Henkel Foundation. How then did this project come about? In 2011, the Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz (Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation) took over a large anthropological collection belonging to the Charité in Berlin.
Scholars from both the former colonising and former colonised worlds are now engaged in a joint effort to revisit the history of colonialism. Their aim is not only to uncover the past, but also to provide a foundation for claims in the present. In doing this,
they are writing a new history, one which combines rigorous scientific methods with activist approaches.
Governments, universities, and museums expect these scholars to produce a body of new and sound knowledge which will enable our society to understand the complex realities of colonialism.
This understanding can then be used in the preparation of claims for the restitution of Human Remains, objects, and documents.
