Germany begins return of Benin bronzes to Nigeria

The First Art Newspaper on the Net    Established in 1996 Friday, March 29, 2024


Germany begins return of Benin bronzes to Nigeria
An artifact being returned to Nigeria by Germany, dating from the 18th century, this head of a king, known as an oba. The renowned artifacts were given back to Nigeria on Friday, July 1, 2022, and Germany intends to give the African country ownership of some 1,100 more. Martin Franken/Preußischer Kulturbesitz via The New York Times.

by Alex Marshall



NEW YORK, NY.- Germany returned two of the priceless artifacts known as the Benin Bronzes to Nigeria on Friday, after reaching a political agreement that could soon see hundreds more return to the country from which they were looted more than 100 years ago.

The return of the two artifacts — a head of a king, known as an oba, dating from the 18th century, and an intricately designed 16th-century plaque — happened as Germany’s and Nigeria’s culture ministers met in Berlin to sign an agreement paving the way for the African country to take ownership of the some 1,100 Benin Bronzes currently in Germany’s museums.

Once ownership is transferred, it will be up to Nigerian authorities to decide which artifacts they want back, and which they want kept in German museums as cultural ambassadors for Nigeria.

Andreas Goergen, a German official who helped negotiate the agreement, said in a news conference that, in the future, if Nigeria ever asks for an item back, “it will be shipped.”

The Benin Bronzes are a set of several thousand intricate artifacts that, despite their name, are mostly made of brass and include carved elephant tusks and ivory leopard statues. They come from the ancient Kingdom of Benin, now in southern Nigeria, and the most famous items are a series of brass plaques, which were once nailed to pillars in the kingdom’s main palace.

In 1897, British forces looted thousands of the bronzes during a violent raid of Benin City, and soon the items were scattered across museums around the world.

Over the past five years, there has been growing momentum to return the bronzes and other items looted under colonialism to their countries of origin, especially after President Emmanuel Macron of France said returning items from Africa’s heritage to the continent was “a top priority.” European museums have been at the forefront of those discussions, but some organizations in the United States have acted, too. In March, the Smithsonian Institution said it would return most of its 39 bronzes to Nigeria, shipping them at the institution’s expense.




The German government said in April 2021 that it intended to return “substantial” numbers of the bronzes to Nigeria, while last fall it said it wanted to transfer ownership of all looted items to that country. Friday’s announcement formalized those promises.

Given Germany’s complex political structure, the states and cities that oversee its museums now have to pass legislation confirming the ownership transfer, but Goergen said he expected that will be completed “in the very close future.” Some authorities, like those of Baden-Württemberg, the region that includes Stuttgart’s Linden ethnographical museum, have already passed resolutions for their return.

Many of the bronzes are likely to end up in a new museum planned for Benin City, called the Edo Museum of West African Art. Phillip Ihenacho, a financier leading efforts to raise money for that project, said that Friday’s agreement was “a significant achievement.” Having Nigeria decide the bronzes’ future was “a fundamentally different relationship to what we had before,” he added.

Ihenacho said work had yet to start on the museum, but he hoped construction of a pavilion to store and display returned items would begin in August and be completed by the end of 2023.

With Friday’s announcement, attention will likely shift to Britain’s museums. Last year, Nigeria requested its antiquities back from the British Museum in London, which has some 900 Benin Bronzes in its collections. Nigeria’s National Commission for Museums and Monuments has made similar requests to other museums, including the Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford, which has 94 bronzes in its collections and whose governing body said in March that it supports returning the items.

Several British museums are part of a network called the Benin Dialogue Group, which planned to send bronzes back to Nigeria in a rotating series of loans, but the movement by Germany shows how that is being superseded.

The movement within German museums to come to terms with how the country has benefited from colonialism is not limited to the bronzes. In June, the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation, which oversees Berlin’s museums, announced it would return an important figure of a goddess, known as Ngonnso’, to Cameroon, even though it had not been looted, as well as giving back objects to Tanzania and Namibia.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.










Today's News

July 2, 2022

Germany begins return of Benin bronzes to Nigeria

Visiting Venice? Make a reservation and be ready to pay.

Sotheby's announces auction of critical precursor to the Bill of Rights

Director of the Chinati Foundation in Marfa to step down

"Imagine a world without photojournalism" exhibit marks Monroe Gallery's 20th anniversary in Santa Fe

Foreland, an art complex with big ambitions, grows in Catskill

New-York Historical Society's new exhibition showcases the works of Winold Reiss

Exhibition explores fiber as a medium for critical and exploratory possibility

M 2 3 opens an exhibition of new work by Erik Nilson

45 designers from over 20 countries feature in landmark Africa Fashion exhibition

Exhibition of new works by Todd Bienvenu opens at Almine Rech New York

"Passion and Patronage Gifts from the Gerald Mead Collection" on view at the Castellani Art Museum

"Elemental Matters": Jonathan Prince sculpture exhibit opens at Chesterwood

Richard Taruskin, vigorously polemical musicologist, dies at 77

'The Mutes' gives voice to musical outsiders

Rare bronze 1943 Lincoln cent, called 'most sought-after error coin of all time,' comes to Heritage Auctions

Crescent City announces highlights included in Important Summer Estates Auction

The New Shopware 6 Webshop

Maruani Mercier announces representation of Nigerian artist Johnson Eziefula

Maya Vinitsky has been appointed as Curator of Design and Architecture at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art

M77 Gallery presents 'Charlotte Perriand: The Avant-Garde is Female curated by Enrica Viganò'

Emma Talbot premieres new work at Whitechapel Gallery

A beloved Black-run bookstore in Los Angeles is closing

'Long live the theater': Mariupol's drama company to perform again

19th-century Murik mask among highlights in Heritage Ethnographic Art Auction

Pinoy Teleserye Replay Orihinal na may Pinoy Tv




Museums, Exhibits, Artists, Milestones, Digital Art, Architecture, Photography,
Photographers, Special Photos, Special Reports, Featured Stories, Auctions, Art Fairs,
Anecdotes, Art Quiz, Education, Mythology, 3D Images, Last Week, .

 



Founder:
Ignacio Villarreal
(1941 - 2019)
Editor & Publisher: Jose Villarreal
Art Director: Juan José Sepúlveda Ramírez

Royalville Communications, Inc
produces:

ignaciovillarreal.org juncodelavega.com facundocabral-elfinal.org
Founder's Site. Hommage
to a Mexican poet.
Hommage
       

The First Art Newspaper on the Net. The Best Versions Of Ave Maria Song Junco de la Vega Site Ignacio Villarreal Site
Tell a Friend
Dear User, please complete the form below in order to recommend the Artdaily newsletter to someone you know.
Please complete all fields marked *.
Sending Mail
Sending Successful