As Africa Week 2025 approaches, Uganda is preparing to spotlight a remarkable cultural milestone the return of 39 historical artefacts from the University of Cambridge’s Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. These items, which had been held in the United Kingdom for over a century, were officially repatriated to Uganda in 2024.
The artefacts, collected during the late 19th and early 20th centuries by colonial administrators, missionaries, anthropologists, and soldiers, span the cultural breadth of Uganda. Among them is a striking headdress made of human hair from Lango, acquired in 1937; intricately decorated pots from Ankole, dating back to the 1920s; and a sacred Lubaale vessel from Buganda, taken in 1907.
The Permanent Delegation of the Republic of Uganda to UNESCO will feature this repatriation story during Africa Week, which will take place from May 19 to 21, 2025, at UNESCO headquarters in Paris. This year’s celebration carries the theme “Global Solidarity for the Restitution and Restoration of African Heritage through Culture, Education and Sciences.”
The event is expected to underscore the global momentum around restitution of African heritage and highlight Uganda’s efforts to reclaim, preserve, and celebrate its cultural identity on the international stage.
