Archaeology Research

Decolonial heritage otherwise: engaging Igbo cultural heritage in Scotland

20th August 2026 at the Royal Society of Edinburgh

 

 

 

This talk focuses on our RSE funded project, which aims to build a collaborative network with museums, curators, and Igbo hometown associations (HTAs) in Scotland. It questions and re-theorises the fixated notion of 'source or origin community' in cultural heritage discourses. It examines how members of Igbo HTAs might constitute ‘new’ source or origin communities, which, in the context of Scotland, have organised themselves into, for instance, Igbo Welfare Union Glasgow (IWUG); Igbo Community Aberdeen - now Igbo Cultural Association (SCIO); Igboamaka Scotland (formerly Igboamaka Edinburgh), covering Edinburgh, Fife, Lothians and the Borders; and Nzuko Ndi Igbo, Dundee. Over the years, members of these ‘diasporic’ source communities have brought their sacred and profane masks, musical instruments, objects of authority, royal regalia, traditional dresses, and foodways, including the formation of cultural dance groups and the organisation of festivals and the performance of rites/rituals while living in Scotland. Our project investigates how these people interact with museum collections alongside other cultural items they have brought and continue to bring to Scotland through migration. It asks what these collections offer/afford the diaspora Igbo people in terms of integration, belonging, and inclusion in Scotland. The goal is to explore how the colonial-era and contemporary migratory phases of Igbo cultural materials and practices would contribute to a 'pluriversal' Scottish society, creating opportunities for cultural dialogue.

 

More information about the 2026 ASAHH summer meet-up can be found here

 

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First published: 20 August 2026