As debates over colonial-era African artifacts intensify in 2026, Nigerian performance artist Jelili Atticu is using his body as a political canvas to confront Europe’s museum systems. His groundbreaking work, documented in the new film Long Way Home: Reclaiming Africa’s Cultural Heritage, reanimates looted artifacts through ritualistic performances staged within the very institutions that display them.
Atticu’s interventions at museums in London, Paris, and Berlin create visceral dialogues between displaced cultural objects and their African origins. Through symbolic gestures and Yoruba-inspired rituals, he questions what he calls “the frozen spectacle of colonial plunder,” forcing viewers to confront the living cultural void left in communities of origin.
The film arrives as European institutions face mounting pressure to accelerate artifact repatriation. Recent agreements between Ethiopia and Germany, along with Nigeria’s ongoing negotiations for Benin Bronzes, form the backdrop to Atticu’s personal journey. Academics interviewed highlight how his work bridges activist scholarship and artistic practice, offering new frameworks for discussing cultural ownership.
For global audiences and diaspora communities, the project underscores Asia’s parallel conversations about looted artifacts while maintaining focus on Africa’s unique restitution challenges. Business analysts note growing interest in heritage tourism investments across Africa, particularly in newly reopened cultural sites receiving repatriated items.
