London Museum Returns Looted Benin City Artefacts To Nigeria – Six artifacts plundered by British troops from Benin City in Nigeria 125 years ago are being returned to their place of origin, raising the pressure on the British Museum to do the same. The artefacts, including two 16th-century Benin bronze plaques looted from the royal palace, were presented to Abba Tijani, the director general of Nigeria’s National Commission of Museums and Monuments (NCMM), during a ceremony held Monday at the Horniman Museum in south London.
Tijani expressed his hope that other museums holding looted Benin City artifacts will be encouraged by Horniman’s example. Specifically, he believed that a deal might be made shortly with the British Museum, the cultural flagship of the country that houses the largest collection of 900 objects. The six artifacts delivered on Monday were chosen to be representative of the 72 Benin items in the Horniman’s collection.
People Also Read: ŻiguŻajg Festival 2022 is Back With Performances for Children and Young People
An agreement between the NCMM and the Horniman will let the remaining 66 objects to remain on loan in the United Kingdom for the next 12 months, followed by a second phase of repatriation. The move is the first time a UK government-funded institution has agreed to hand back treasures looted by British forces. Two other Benin bronzes – a cockerel sculpture held by Jesus College, Cambridge, and the head of an oba (ruler) held by Aberdeen University – have also been returned from Britain to Nigeria.
The bronzes were taken during the British conquest of Benin in 1897. The royal palace was burned and looted and the oba exiled. The British seized all royal treasures, distributing some to individual officers and putting the majority up for auction in London. Eventually, thousands more pieces found their way into museums and private collections across the world. The British Museum has resisted efforts to return the artefacts in its collection, stating that the British Museum Act of 1963 and the Heritage Act of 1983 prohibit it from doing so.
Last month, Nigeria’s culture minister urged the British Museum to take action. Speaking at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, which returned 29 bronzes to Nigeria, Lai Mohammed said: “It’s not if, it’s when. They will eventually have to return these because the campaign is gaining strength by the day and, when they look at what other museums are doing, they will be compelled to return them.” He added: “These artefacts speak to who we are and speak to our history, our religion, our values and ethics.”
The Horniman’s board of trustees unanimously decided to repatriate the artifacts after consulting with London’s Nigerian diaspora population and local schools. “The overwhelming consensus was that the objects had been looted. And as such, they should be returned on the grounds that they were acquired with force and under duress,” said Nick Merriman, the Horniman’s chief executive.
He hoped the handover ceremony would not be “the end of the process but the next step in a fruitful and ongoing relationship with our Nigerian colleagues.” Tijani said Nigeria was willing “to collaborate with institutions and museums that are ready to repatriate. ” Loan agreements were possible in a partnership of mutual benefit. Repatriation was the “right thing to do. These objects should be returned on moral grounds,” he said. Negotiations were continuing with the British Museum. “I believe it’s something that can be resolved very soon.”
The Nigerian government intends to house bronzes that have been repatriated in the Edo Museum of West African Art, which is scheduled to open in 2025. This year, Germany physically sent two Benin bronzes and more than a thousand other objects from its museum collections to Nigeria. “It was wrong to take the bronzes and it was wrong to keep them. This is the beginning to right the wrongs,” said Annalena Baerbock, the German foreign minister.
People Also Read: Top 7 Best Cultural Festivals In America
In a separate ongoing dispute over stolen artifacts, the Greek prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, was expected to bring up the repatriation of the Parthenon marbles – one of the most significant collections of classical art in existence – during a Monday afternoon meeting with King Charles at Windsor Castle. The marbles have been on display at the British Museum since 1892, after Lord Elgin had them stripped from the Parthenon and shipped to Britain.
