Sustaining the Otherwise, a transnational project initiated in 2023 by two independent curators, writers and researchers, Selene Wendt and Amal Alhaag, takes a different tack on restitution.

THERE has been a sustained, vibrant discussion about restitution and reparation in recent times. Following decades of persistent advocacy from scholars, activists, artists and governments of colonised countries, some European and American institutions are returning cultural and religious artefacts to their countries of origin.

For example, Germany has returned some of the looted Benin Bronzes to Nigeria, and some charities and colleges in the United Kingdom have done the same. While some people see restitution as an important step toward justice and healing, many still think it only involves returning physical objects.

But ‘Sustaining the Otherwise’, a transnational project initiated in 2023 by two independent curators, writers and researchers, Selene Wendt and Amal Alhaag, takes a different tack.

The collaborative, multi-locational research and artistic project on restitution, reparation, and transformation offers space for artists, curators, and scholars to engage in dialogue and explore restitution across material and immaterial culture. It focuses on stretching, rather than fixing, the definition of restitution.

“We’re interested in taking an active approach to restitution. We acknowledge that conversations have been going on for decades, but we wanted to approach it in a way that acknowledges that restitution is not only about material culture, but also about immaterial culture,” Wendt, one of the two initiators, began in an interview.

“And it frames restitution specifically within contemporary art practices that examine, research and work with restitution in different ways, activating this notion of restitution,” she continued.

For Wendt and Alhaag, restitution also goes beyond the Eurocentric focus on returning objects to museums. They found that the most interesting developments in the field concern contemporary artists who have worked with restitution as a theme throughout their practices.

‘Sustaining the Otherwise’ is not a standalone project. It comprises three phases; Researching the Otherwise, Practicing the Otherwise and Maintaining the Otherwise.

Wendt disclosed that the first phase ‘Researching the Otherwise’,was conducted “through gatherings and convenings where the focus was on doing research together, unlearning together, and re-imagining restitution together.” The gatherings took place in 2024 and 2025 in locations including, Zambia, Trinidad, Senegal and the Netherlands.

Among other topics of research,‘Sustaining the Otherwise’ has featured ‘Carnival as a Conjuring of History and Memory’, a five-day workshop and micro-residency developed in collaboration with Alice Yard in February 2025 in Port of Spain, Trinidad. The event collectively unpacked the notion of ‘a carnival space’, touching on ritual, memory, and history in relation to carnival as a conjuring of history and memory, and highlighting links between these topics and practices within a Caribbean context and as understood in relation to Africa.

It featured artists from Alice Yard, including Christopher Cozier, Shannon Alonzo, Sean Leonard, Nicholas Laughlin, and Kriston Chen. Other participants and collaborating artists included A k u z u r u, Alhaag, Jelili Atiku, Quinsy Gario,Elechi Todd, Luanda Carneiro Jacoel, Syowia Kyambi, Amanda T. McIntyre, Shari Petti, Robert Young, and Wendt herself.

There was also ‘Practicing Freedom and Refusal’, part of the project’s second phase which draws inspiration from Kaiama L. Glover’s book ‘A Regarded Self.’ Held at Metro54 in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, from February 27 to April 25, 2026, the exhibition featured works by artists including Kampala-raised, Rotterdam-based multidisciplinary artist Christine AYO, Berlin-based South African-born Helena Uambembe, Masimba Hwati, Christian Nyampeta, and Nigerian designer and multidisciplinary artist Adeju Thompson.

While restitution over the last two decades has been largely framed as the return of objects, ‘Practicing Freedom and Refusal’ brings the conversation beyond theobject. It questions what else has been lost alongside them and how an object stolen from time could ever make up for the loss of labour, knowledge, and history. The exhibition shifts the focus to dismantling and readdressing restitution withinartisticpractices, centring African and diasporic artists who engage with memory, inheritance, and survival as ongoing processes.

Instead of following a predetermined plan, Wendt and Alhaag work with artists in different places to create exhibitions and public programs that are developed collaboratively for each location. Sometimes, this involves a residency that ends with an art program, and in other instances the outcome is an exhibition or interdisciplinary program.

“It’s not about reinventing the wheel; it’s about supporting individuals who have been working on restitution for years. It’s not just about locating an artist and saying, ‘Hey, would you like to do something about restitution?’” Wendt explained their hands-off approach.

Wendt further reiterated that restitution is not only about material culture. She disclosed that as the project moves into next year it will become ‘Maintaining the Otherwise’ because it is important to have a footprint after all outcomes, including publications and an archive, digital and physical, accessible to everyone.

Before that, more events are planned this year in Lusaka, Kampala, Dakar, and Lagos.

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Nyugen E. Smith, whose ongoing artistic practice is centred arounddecoloniality, was an artist resident at the Lusaka Contemporary Art Centre in Zambia for six weeks between April and May, engaging directly with the local community.

Also,as part of the Sustaining the Otherwise’s multilocational program for 2026, Cameroonian curatorAude Christel Mgba, who has been part of the project since its inception, will curate a thematic group exhibition atNairobi Contemporary Art Centre (NCAI), Nairobi, Kenya, which will open in September.

‘Sustaining the Otherwise’ will also feature a live exhibition in Oslo. Wendt explained that it will include site-specific performances and activations at Nordic Black Theatre, the project’s primary collaborator in Norway.

It will be Lagos’s turn at the beginning of October, when a residency for one of the artists participating in an exhibition on rematriation at the Centre for Contemporary Arts, Yaba, Lagos, begins. There will also be artists from the Diaspora and Nigeria.

There will also be a full residency at Angels & Muse in Lagos and a smaller residency at its Benin City centre. Victor Ehikhamenor, the founder of Angels & Muse, is also a key partner in Sustaining the Otherwise.

The transnational project will conclude the year with a programinDakar in collaboration with Pascale Obolo, Afrikadaa, and the African Art Book Fair. It will also include an interdisciplinary public program.

‘Sustaining the Otherwise’ is a large project that needs significant funding. It has received support fromorganisations such as the Nordic Culture Fund andCreative Industries Fund NL, but more help would be welcome.

When asked what success would look like at the end of 2026, the co-curator said: “The ultimate success of the program will be that, hopefully, this is a sustainable ecosystem that continues and that other collaborations will take place. And seeing maybe, hopefully, that aspects of our project can be used as a model for thinking differently about restitution, for re-imagining what restitution can be, to stretch the notion and to just think in a more open way.”

That goal is central to ‘Sustaining the Otherwise’. Instead of seeing restitution as finished when an object is returned, the project treats it as an ongoing process of repair, remembrance, building relationships, and imagining new futures. By focusing on artistic experimentation and working together, it opens a wider conversation about what restitution can mean and what it could become.