A significant museum in Cologne is the newest establishment to switch its assortment of Benin bronzes to Nigeria, including momentum to the restitution debate that continues to engulf Western museums.
The Rautenstrauch-Joest-Museum, an ethnological museum that opened in 1906, says it is going to switch possession of 92 works; three objects can be returned this month with 52 objects to be transferred from subsequent yr. The rest will stay on long-term mortgage to the Rautenstrauch-Joest-Museum in step with different restitution agreements. The settlement was signed by the mayor of Cologne, Henriette Reker, and Abba Isa Tijani, the director normal of Nigeria’s Nationwide Fee for Museums.
The Rautenstrauch-Joest-Museum in Cologne
Earlier this yr the German authorities signed a separate key settlement transferring possession of greater than 1,100 works to Nigeria although a few of the works will proceed to be exhibited in Germany.
The continuing agreements finish many years of wrangling over metallic and ivory artefacts (“Benin bronzes” consists of objects not solely product of bronze however brass and ivory too) looted by the British military from what’s now southern Nigeria as a part of a punitive expedition in 1897. For the reason that Sixties, Nigeria has repeatedly known as for his or her repatriation.
In November, a extremely anticipated new on-line database itemizing artistic endeavors looted from the Kingdom of Benin launched, shining a light-weight on greater than 5,000 looted objects housed at greater than 100 museums worldwide. The workforce behind the brand new on-line platform is led by Barbara Plankensteiner, the director of Museum am Rothenbaum–World Cultures and Arts (MARKK) in Hamburg.
Crucially, Germany has agreed to contribute to the development of a brand new museum to deal with the Benin bronzes close to the royal palace in Benin Metropolis, the Edo Museum of West African Artwork.
In the meantime the UK Charity Fee has granted Cambridge College permission to return 116 bronzes. In August officers from the College mentioned that they help “a declare for the return to Nigeria of 116 objects at present held within the College’s Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology collections that have been taken by British armed forces throughout the sacking of Benin Metropolis in 1897”.
In response to the Varsity college newspaper, a number of of the bronzes will keep in Cambridge on prolonged mortgage “guaranteeing that this West African civilisation continues to be represented within the museum’s shows, and in educating for varsity teams”.
