Restitution is a process that presents many challenges.
This was proven by the return of the Witbooi Bible and whip, where the origin could clearly be identified.
However, this is rarely the case for colonial artefacts.
The following two examples are cultural artefacts that were returned from Germany to Namibia as part of a permanent loan.
In this case, the provenance could not be traced back quite so easily. Provenance research is not only concerned with the geographical origin of an object, but is also interested in the often unclear cultural origin and meaning of an object.
The entire journey of the object tells its story, including the cultural interactions associated with it.
While the technical details of many objects have been well documented over the years, their cultural significance was often thought to be lost.
During the Summer School, many of the cultural meanings associated with the objects were discussed and uncovered.
