Making Connections: Repatriating Objects to Botswana

In 2019-2021, Brighton & Hove Museums established a partnership with the Khama III Memorial Museum in Serowe, Botswana, through the ‘Making African Connections’ project. Our staff worked collaboratively with the Khama III Memorial Museum on research and access to the William Charles Willoughby collection that was taken from Botswana and housed at Brighton & Hove Museums since 1899.

As a result of this partnership, in 2022 the Khama III Memorial Museum formally requested the repatriation of 45 objects, including clothing, accessories, hunting implements and objects found in the home. The objects finally made their return journey home in May 2026.

This film, developed in conjunction with the University of Sussex and the Khama III Memorial Museum, tells this story. Alongside the return of these objects, an accompanying permanent exhibition opened at the Khama III Memorial Museum on the 27 May. Additionally, a two-day summit designed to foster conversation and collaboration across heritage, repatriation, museums, wildlife conservation, and tourism in collaboration with the University of Sussex and University of Botswana took place. A cultural festival was also held in Serowe centered on Botswana’s identity, memory, and creativity.

The exhibition traces the journey of objects taken in the late nineteenth century from the Gammangwato region to Brighton and, ultimately, back home. During his time among the Bangwato under Kgosi (chief) Khama III, Reverend William Charles Willoughby (1857–1938) developed a strong interest in their way of life. Through his missionary work and, later, as a professor of African Missions at Hartford Seminary College in Connecticut, he collected cultural objects and removed them from Botswana.

These objects later entered overseas collections at Brighton & Hove Museums, where they were separated from the communities and indigenous knowledge systems that had given them meaning.

Explore the links below to find out more about the collections, the Batswana people and the fascinating history behind this project.

• The Making African Connections Digital Archive · Making African Connections
• Khama III Memorial Museum · KhamaIIIMuseum
• Making African Connections 
• Making Connections; Our Past, Our Identity 
• Making Botswana: Woodcarving
• Making Botswana: Baskets
• Making Botswana: Women’s work
• Making Botswana: Leatherwork
• Making Botswana: Makgabe
• Making Botswana: Beadwork 
• African Kings in Brighton | Brighton & Hove Black History