‘Resolving Restitution Disputes: Process, reconciliation and creativity’ is a major seminar covering Holocaust and colonial-era restitution cases. The seminar will focus on the practicalities of reaching outcomes acceptable to the parties involved, whether that involves negotiation or external processes like mediation. The event is being run in partnership with Keystone Law.

The keynote address will be given by Dr Andreas Görgen, Secretary General of Germany’s Federal Ministry of Culture and Media who will discuss the Joint Declaration of 1st July 2022 between Germany and Nigeria on the Benin Bronzes. There will then be a response from Professor Nicholas Thomas, Director of the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology at the University of Cambridge.

In addition, there will be two expert panels. The first will discuss the many ways in which disputes involving art looted during the Holocaust can be resolved in the present day. The panel will consist of:

• Dr Evelien Campfens (art and cultural heritage law expert, consultant and academic at Leiden University)
• Anne Webber FRSA (Founder and Co-Chair, Commission for Looted Art in Europe)
• Sarah Done (Director, Restitution, Christie’s)
• with Gregor Kleinknecht (Solicitor, Keystone Law) moderating

The second panel will cover antiquities and objects from the colonial-era. It will consist of:

• Dr Jacques Schuhmacher (Senior Provenance Research Curator, Victoria & Albert Museum)
• Dr Frezer Haile (Project Associates; Previously Advisor for Public Diplomacy and Political Affairs at Embassy of Ethiopia in London)
• James Ratcliffe (Mediator, General Counsel and Director of Recoveries, Art Loss Register)
• with Alexander Herman (Director, Institute of Art and Law) moderating

We will also be presenting the Arts Council England sector guidance, Restitution and Repatriation: A practical guide for museums in England, which was published last month and which will have a bearing on a number of the topics at the event.