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From 3 to 5 September 2025, the Centre for Advanced Study “Access to Cultural Goods in Digital Change” held a workshop entitled “Digital Restitution: Bridging Access, Conservation, and Ethical Challenges.”

Venue: Lecture Hall JO 1, Johannisstraße 4, 48143 Münster

Download programme

The workshop engaged in rethinking restitution in the digital age—where heritage, ethics, technology, and sustainability converge to shape the future of cultural preservation. It brought together scholars, museum professionals, heritage practitioners, and digital technologists to participate in this interdisciplinary discourse on digital heritage preservation and the ethical dimensions of cultural digitization in the field of restitution policies.

Programme

Wednesday, 3 September 2025

01.30 pm
Welcome and Introduction 
Ursula Frohne, Jolanda Saal 

First Panel: Ethical Aspects in Digital Restitution

Chair: Reinold Schmücker

01.45 pm
The Ontological Status of Artworks and the Related Goals of Restorative Justice. Perspectives from African Philosophy
Franziska Dübgen (Universität Münster)

02.30 pm
Ways of Seeing. Beyond Restitutions
Carlos Korassi Téwéché (Universität Münster) 

03.15 pm
Coffee Break

Second Panel: Digital Restitution and Legal Frameworks

Chair: Eberhard Ortland

03.45 pm
Legal Postcolonialism in the Digital World. Some Thoughts on Possible Outcomes
Antoinette Maget Dominicé (Université de Genève)

04.30 pm
Scan It, Own It? How Copyright May Challenge Digital Restitution
Anaïs Bayrou (Université de Genève)

07.00 pm
Dinner at Vinothek am Theater

Thursday, 4 September 2025

Third Panel: Digital Restitution as Artistic Intervention

Chair: Jolanda Saal
 
09.00 am
IIP Kenya Lecture Performance – Untitled (T**he empty Museum)  (via Zoom)
Simon Rittmeier, Jim Chuchu (International Inventories Programme), Lydia Nafula, George Juma Ondeng (National Museums Kenya)

10.30 am
Coffee Break

10.45 am
Who Owns Cultural Data? The Improbable Case of the Nefertiti Bust Scan
Josina Dehn (Universität Münster)

11.30 am
What’s Art Got To Do With It… Challenging Colonialism 4.0
Isabel Hufschmidt (Centre for Advanced Study “Access to Cultural Goods in Digital Change”, Universität Münster)

12.30 pm
Lunch at Sylt am Bült

Fourth Panel: The Role of Digitalization in Decolonizing Colonial Collections

Chair: Josina Dehn

02.00 pm
Pre-History of the Restitution Debate – A Case Study
Jolanda Saal (Universität Münster)

02.45 pm
Digital Transformation of the African Ecosystem Through Collaboration, Community, and Creativity: A Milele Museum Case Study
Melissa Kurkut (Milele Museum)

03.30 pm
Coffee Break

Chair: Isabel Hufschmidt 

04.00 Uhr
“I want to see our objects“. The meaning of ‘digital’ in cultures of touch and spiritual connection“. (via Zoom)
Mikáel Assilkinga (Linden-Museum Stuttgart)

04.45 pm
“Forum der Völker, Werl” – Navigating Restitution: Digital Tools and Concepts for Colonial Collections Management
Tanja Pirsig-Marshall (LWL-Museum für Kunst und Kultur, Münster)

05.30 pm
Break 

Keynote

Chair: Ursula Frohne

05.45 pm
“Militarist Realism”: Some Thoughts on Copies, Colonial Legacies, and Cultural Restitution
Dan Hicks (University of Oxford | Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford)

19.00 pm
Get together – Wine & Cheese

Friday, 5 September 2025                  

Fifth Panel: Technological Innovations in Heritage Preservation

Chair: Alina Selbach

09.30 am
Transcontinental Techno-Accessibility: Collaborative Digitisation of Colonial Heritage Collections
Agustina Andreoletti (Universität zu Köln)

10.15 am
Beyond Restitution: The Role of Replicas in Cultural Transmission and Heritage Preservation
Renée Riedler (Universität Wien | Weltmuseum Wien)

11.00 am
Coffee Break

Keynote

Chair: Ursula Frohne

11.15 am
Cultural Heritage in the Post-Digital: Berlin’s Pergamon Museum and the Panorama Exhibition by Yadegar Asisi 
Annette Löseke (Hochschule für Bildende Künste, Braunschweig)

12.30 pm
Concluding Remarks

13.00 pm
Farewell Snack

Topic

The digitization of cultural heritage represents a transformative shift in how we document, access, and engage with the history of colonial collections and the responsibilities to return these to the originating communities. This workshop explored the extent to which digital replicas can address restitution demands and offered practical strategies for improving access to displaced objects as a means of facilitating their physical repatriation. For decades, repatriation requests for looted and appropriated objects held in museums of the Global North have been met with institutional resistance or political indifference. In response, some source communities are now advocating for alternative restitution models – including virtual heritage archives, shared custodianship, and co-curation frameworks. This raises critical questions: can digital restitution meaningfully address historical injustices, or does it risk becoming a temporary substitute for material restitution? Through keynote lectures and case studies, the workshop examined both the opportunities and limitations of digital restitution, informed by international examples and collaborative heritage initiatives. Special attention was given to the role of 3D scanning, digital twins, and immersive technologies in heritage conservation, as well as the ethical dimensions of digital reproduction, data sovereignty, and cultural sensitivity.

A further central concern of this workshop was the impact of digital restitution on museums, source communities, and the global heritage discourse, along the legal and political dimensions of digital repatriation – including questions of copyright, data ownership, and the rights of source communities. However, discussions on digital restitution must not overlook the issue of sustainability. The ecological footprint of digital heritage preservation remains an often-overlooked concern. The carbon emissions associated with large-scale digital projects must be critically assessed, and institutions engaging in digital restitution should explore ways to implement environmentally sustainable technologies that mitigate these impacts.

Additionally, the issue of long-term preservation must be addressed. Unlike physical artifacts that have endured for centuries, digital files are susceptible to technological obsolescence, data corruption, and restricted access.

At the same time, unequal access to digital resources remains a pressing challenge. Many local communities lack the technical infrastructure and funding necessary to engage with restituted digital objects. This raises important concerns about whether digital restitution –if not accompanied by capacity-building initiatives – risks reinforcing a form of digital colonialism, in which European institutions maintain control over digital heritage assets much as they have historically controlled the physical originals.

Speakers

Agustina Andreoletti, University of Cologne

Dr. des. Mikaél Assilkinga, Linden-Museum Stuttgart

Anaïs Bayrou, University of Geneva

Jim Chuchu, International Inventories Programme

Josina Dehn, University of Münster

Prof. Dr. Franziska Dübgen, University of Münster

Professor Dan Hicks, University of Oxford and Pitt Rivers Museum

Dr. Isabel Hufschmidt, University of Münster

Melissa Kurkut, Milele Museum

Prof. Dr. Annette Löseke, Hochschule für Bildende Künste, Braunschweig

Prof. Dr. Antoinette Maget Dominicé, University of Geneva

Dr. Tanja Pirsig-Marshall, LWL-Museum für Kunst und Kultur Münster

Lydia Nafula, International Inventories Programme | Nairobi, Kenya

George Juma Ondeng, International Inventories Programme |  Nairobi, Kenya

Renée Riedler, University Vienna and Weltmuseum Wien

Simon Rittmeier, International Inventories Programme

Jolanda Saal, University of Münster

Dr. Carlos Korassi Téwéché, University of Münster