ACASA CCR Best Practices Document
Loading...
Loading...
Reload document 
Open in new tab Our Mission:
The CCRBP works with Africa-based institutions, professionals, and community members and advises museums in the United States on ethical engagement with origin and descendant communities whose objects, artworks, and ancestors are currently represented in their collections.
Who we are:
The Art Council of the African Studies Association (ACASA) is a sponsored academic and professional organization of the African Studies Association, a global umbrella membership organization devoted to enhancing the exchange of information about Africa. ACASA members consist of scholars, teachers, students, artists, museum specialists, collectors, and all others interested in the arts and culture of Africa and the African Diaspora.
Initiated in 2021, the Collaboration, Collections, and Restitution Best Practices (CCRBP) for United States Museums Holding African Objects Working Group is an ad hoc committee of ACASA. It is composed of over seventy specialists (museum professionals, academics, independent researchers, government officials, and artists) from the United States, Africa, and Europe. Acting as a representative of ACASA, the CCRBP develops resources for museums in the United States with holdings of African arts, material culture, and ancestral remains.
Best Practices Goals:
Authored by members of the CCRBP between 2022 and 2024, this document recommends best practice guidelines for the ethical stewardship of museum collections originating from the African continent, including recommendations for the ethical return of objects to constituents on the African continent. It emphasizes collaboration and communication with Africa-based peers, descendant communities, and other knowledge-holding constituents in assessing and determining the futures of the collections.
Ratified by ACASA in 2024, this document recommends museums in the United States demonstrate an institutional commitment to 1) transparency regarding collection holdings and information about object histories, 2) working with interested parties on the African continent on collaborations, including returns, within this field-wide framework of accepted practice, 3) prioritizing research on collection holdings, and 4) disseminating information about African arts collections in accordance with ethical computing standards.
Background:
The inaugural Steering Committee for the Working Group on Collaboration, Collections, and Restitution Best Practices for United States Museums Holding African Objects (CCRBP) emerged from a roundtable discussion held as part of Museum Day at the 2021 Arts Council of the African Studies Association (ACASA) Triennial Symposium, which was held virtually from June 16 through June 20, 2021. In Fall 2021, the group’s inaugural Steering Committee held four listening sessions for African and North American constituents to broaden the conversation. These meetings provided a virtual international forum for museum professionals to share the relevant work happening at their respective institutions as well as their concerns, experiences, and goals regarding restitution and its processes. At the same time, the inaugural Steering Committee asked the Board of ACASA to accept the CCRBP WG as an ad-hoc committee, a shift in status that was approved in January 2022. Individuals based in Africa, North America, and Europe have volunteered to be part of the CCRBP WG. A new Steering Committee of thirteen individuals from Africa and North America was assembled, and five subcommittees launched in April 2022. Three subcommittees submitted their reports in January 2023. Using these reports as a foundation, the steering committee submitted a first draft of the report to select CCRBP member readers in December of 2023 for review, and then to the full CCRBP membership for feedback in February 2024. After a final round of reviews by outside readers from a range of associated fields, the steering committee submitted the final draft of the Best Practices document to the ACASA board on July 3, 2024. The Best Practices were then ratified by a vote of the ACASA membership on August 7, 2024.
Collaboration, Collections, and Restitution Best Practices for United States Museums Holding African Objects Panel Presentation at the 19th ACASA Triennial Symposium on African Art Recording
**If the above link does not work in your browser, please click here to downloaded the video
ACASA CCR Best Practices Document
For inquiries about the CCRBP, please contact: CCRBP@acasaonline.org
Inaugural steering committee:
Marla Berns
Kathleen Bickford Berzock
Ndubuisi Ezeluomba
Amanda Gilvin
Amanda Hellman
Christine Kreamer
Amanda Maples
Costa Petridis
Raymond Silverman
Nii O. Quarcoopome
2022-2025 Steering Committee:
Co-chairs:
Amanda Gilvin
Erica Jones
Members:
Sarah Clunis
Paul R. Davis
Martin Elouga
Ndubuisi Ezeluomba
Silvia Forni
Kathryn Gunsch
Amanda M. Maples
Courtnay Micots
Romuald Tchibozo
Outreach Chair:
Christa Clarke
CCRBP by the numbers:
Inaugural Steering Committee: 10 members
Fall 2021 listening sessions: 69 total participants
December 2021 workshop: 57 attendees
February 2022 survey of ACASA Members: 74 responses
Steering Committee: 11 members
5 best practices documents case studies
5 in-depth conversations with relevant organizations
Interlocutor Identification: 9 members
154 interlocutors in Africa
174 institutions in North America that steward African art
Comparative Models for Restitution and Repatriation: 12 members
16 case studies
10 models
Criteria and Parameters for Objects Subject to Potential Collaboration, Restitution, and Repatriation: 12 members
3 best practices case studies
4 CCRBP member museum presentations
18 restitution case studies
Resources Committee: 4 members
4 interviews with museum representatives about return processes
Outreach: 1 Chair
4 external reviewers of Best Practices document draft
Making United States African Art Collections Accessible and Visible: 16 members
15 case studies of digital resources
4 in-depth conversations with digital resource creators
3 listening sessions with 12 Africa-based interlocutors
1 listening session with 2 U.S.-based consulting curators
Survey sent to 144 Africa-based interlocutors, 7 responses
Questions? Please fill out the form below or email CCRBP@acasaonline.org