Her talk, entitled, “On Architecture and the Restitution of Cultural Heritage,” studies Adjaye Associates’ proposal to reconstitute the visual landscape of the ancient Edo-Benin Kingdom in the Edo Museum of West African Art (EMOWAA). Yet to be built in Benin City, Nigeria, the museum will reclaim and re-house numerous objects looted by British colonial forces in 1897, including brass, ivory, and ceramic plaques, masks, vessels, and heads. In her lecture, Osayimwese foregrounds architectural works — from structural elements like verandah columns and ridge beams to entire buildings — in the movement for restitution, which often focuses on ethnographic and art objects. Through the case study of the EMOWAA, she probes the workings of race in architectural history, and the role that design plays and could play in restitution and repair. 

Osayimwese has served on the Board of Directors for the Society of Architectural Historians, and is currently the co-chair of the SAH Minority Scholars Affiliate Group. She will present her talk on Thursday, April 28, at 8:00 pm.