The Museum of the Bamoun Kings and the prospects for the restitution

Rachel Mariembe discusses the collection of the Musée des Rois Bamoun (MRB, Museum of the Bamoun Kings), located in Foumban in Cameroon’s West Region, as a framework for studying issues related to the concepts of museum, cultural heritage, conservation, and the restitution of cultural property looted during the colonial period.

She uses an empirico-historical approach based on heritage sciences, which foregrounds a community perspective, to analyze these notions and their practice in society as endogenous mechanisms for collection conservation, perspectives for reconnecting cultural property with communities of origin, and the potential benefits of restitution for inclusive development.