Making African Heritage Accessible to All
Vision
The Tiekie Box Project seeks to reclaim and transform the way African Descendant Communities and the Diaspora engage with their Cultural Heritage, by elevating and expanding the work of global cultural rights activists and preservationists working to protect their heritage
Our Founder
Annina van Neel
is a Namibian born, cultural rights activist and impact producer with more than 13 years of experience in community engagement and natural, cultural and built heritage preservation. She is an Echoing Green Fellow 2023 and has a bachelor’s degree in Environmental and Geographical Science and Archaeology from the University of Cape Town. Her passion for African heritage was reignited when she emigrated to the British Overseas Territory of Saint Helena Island to work as the Environmental Officer for the airport construction project.
In that role, she encountered the neglected, desecrated albeit most significant physical trace of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade, The African Burial Grounds of Saint Helena Island. She campaigned for the preservation of this sacred site and history through creative community engagement and activism. This journey is chronicled in the full feature length, international award winning documentary, “A Story of Bones 2022.”
Annina is a member and adviser to international African diaspora groups such as the St. Eustatius Afrikan Burial Ground Alliance and the International Commission for Cultural Heritage SOAD. She is collaborating with several museums and institutions actively decolonizing their collections and exhibitions. After 12 years of working abroad, Annina returned home to Namibia with her family to learn about her own colonial history and the genocide of the Nama and the Ovaherero under German rule.
Advisory Board
Our Partners
