Moderated by Ambassador Susan D. Page (U-M Law School, Ford School, and Weiser Diplomacy Center)

Our speakers reflect on how they, in their practice, have grappled with questions of repair, restitution and repatriation, both internally and in various public spaces: in the courts, in museums, and in grassroots organizations.

Christa Soeters speaks about colonial repair in the courtroom and internal repair from intergenerational trauma. She is the secretary of the Dutch reparations committee for Indonesians, Yayasan Komite Utang Kehormatan Belanda (KUKB), which helps victims and descendants of victims of Dutch colonial atrocities win court cases against the Dutch State.

Bambi Ceuppens speaks about restitution of art and decolonizing the Royal Museum for Central Africa in Tervuren, Belgium, also known as “Belgium’s largest colonial monument”. She is an anthropologist and the senior curator at the Tervuren museum, where she played a central role in the renovation and the development of the new displays at the museum between 2008 and 2018.