As debates over Africa's cultural heritage intensify in 2026, Nigerian performance artist Jelili Atticu is turning European museum halls into stages for decolonization. Through visceral performances surrounded by looted artifacts, Atticu "reactivates" these objects using Yoruba rituals and contemporary movement, directly confronting their displacement from communities like his own.
📽️ His journey – documented in the new film Long Way Home – comes as institutions like the British Museum face renewed pressure this year to return Benin Bronzes and other treasures. "These objects aren't dead history," Atticu tells audiences during a recent Berlin performance. "They carry ancestral voices that demand to be heard at home."
🌍 The film sparks urgent questions: Can art heal colonial wounds? With 90% of Africa's cultural heritage still held abroad per UNESCO, Atticu's body becomes both protest and bridge – dancing with the ghosts of displacement while charting paths for restitution.
