Requests for the restitution of artefacts located in North American and European museum collections by African governments, institutions and collectives have become increasingly visible in recent years. They are also the fruit of a new context of post-colonial criticism and decolonisation, which has prompted questions about the monopoly of ethnographic museums established in the 19th and 20th centuries. This work reflects on how these issues present themselves locally, indicating other layers for reflecting on restitution and the role of anthropology in collaborative projects with source communities. The statuary from the Mayombe region is one of the most valued Central Africa art and is part of the collections of major ethnographic museums. Based on ethnographic data gathered during long-term fieldwork, this paper investigates the material and spiritual force called kímbiindi, not yet discussed by scholars. In Yoómbe villages in the Mayombe forest (Democratic Republic of Congo) descriptions of kímbiindi corresponds to objects located in the collections of the British Museum and the Royal Museum of Central Africa. The hypothesis suggested is that these objects no longer circulate materially in Mayombe, but are present as a collective memory updated in everyday practices, having an effect on social relations. The paper analysis: 1. the collective memories this force evokes, which are related to the transatlantic slave trade; 2. the museum objects kímbiindi is associated to; 3. the collaborative project with Yoómbe community to build an archive and discuss restitution demands. The work aims to contribute to museum anthropology by reflecting on the possibilities, as well as the difficulties, of restitution and collaborative practices.