Itohan I. Osayimwese

Itohan I. Osayimwese, professor of architectural and urban history who studies Sub-Saharan Africa, discusses how colonial collectors dismembered and dispersed African building parts to Western museums. She traces violent removals from Dendera to Great Zimbabwe and Benin. She examines how labeling architectural fragments as ornament erased their function and argues for renaming, restitution, and new museum roles.

Itohan I. Osayimwese, a professor of architectural and urban history who studies colonialism and African architecture. She traces the violent removal of African building parts and how museums recast them as ornament. She examines case studies from Dendera to Great Zimbabwe and Benin, discusses chains of removal and memory loss, and calls for proper naming, restitution, and new museum practices.

Itohan I. Osayimwese, a Brown professor of architectural and urban history focused on African built environments, recounts how colonial agents dismantled African buildings and rebranded architectural parts as art. She traces violent 'dismemberment' across the continent. The conversation covers museum mislabeling, restitution debates, case studies like Benin and Great Zimbabwe, and how repatriation could restore cultural memory.