Repatriation Summer 2021
1. NEW YORK (NYT NEWS SERVICE).- The Metropolitan Museum of Art announced Wednesday that it planned to return two brass plaques from its collection, part of the group of West African artifacts known as the Benin Bronzes, to Nigeria, making it the latest institution to pursue repatriation of the looted works.
It has also brokered the return of a third object — a brass head produced in the city of Ife around the 14th century — that had been offered to the museum for sale.
“The Met is pleased to have initiated the return of these works and is committed to transparency and the responsible collecting of cultural property,” the museum said in a statement.
The two 16th-century brass plaques, “Warrior Chief” and “Junior Court Official,” were created at the Court of Benin.
They are part of a collection of artifacts that the British army looted in an 1897 raid on Benin City, in what is now Nigeria, that are now scattered through museums and private collections around the world.
The plaques were housed in the British Museum and then the National Museum in Lagos. “Although they were never deaccessioned by the National Museum,” the Met said in a statement, “the two plaques entered the international art market at an unknown date and under unclear circumstances and were eventually acquired by a New York collector.”
In 1991, the collector gave his Benin works to the Met.
The Met, which has some 160 items from Benin City, including a renowned ivory mask, in its collection, said it initiated the return after conducting research in partnership with the British Museum over the past year. The works in the Met’s collection “were largely given to the institution in the 1970s and 1990s by individuals who acquired them on the art market,” a spokesman told The New York Times in April.
Kenneth Weine, a spokesperson for the Met, said the mask was not being considered for return, though he did not provide a reason.
The Met has deaccessioned the plaques and will deliver them to the director general of Nigeria’s National Commission for Museums and Monuments, Abba Isa Tijani, when he is able to travel to New York City, the museum said in a statement.
They will likely be displayed in the planned Edo Museum of West African Art in Benin City, which is being designed by architect David Adjaye. The museum’s current target is to open in 2025, though the timeline has been pushed back several times.
Despite their name, many of the bronzes are actually made from ivory, brass and wood. While Europe’s museums have had discussions with Nigeria for years, American institutions have only recently begun to act on the bronzes in their collections.
“Nigeria enjoins other museums to take a cue from this,” Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the minister of information and culture of Nigeria, said in a statement. “The art world can be a better place if every possessor of cultural artifacts considers the rights and feelings of the dispossessed.”
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
https://artdaily.cc/news/136534/Met-Museum-announces-return-of-two-Benin-Bronzes-to-Nigeria
2. BERLIN (AFP).- With their wide eyes, intricate head coverings and elaborate armour, the Benin bronzes are among the most prized possessions of Berlin's Ethnological Museum.
But the 16th-18th century metal plaques and sculptures that once decorated the royal palace of the Kingdom of Benin may never see the light of day in a German museum again.
After years of negotiations, Germany announced in April that it will begin returning the bronzes, looted during the colonial era, to what is now Nigeria from next year.
The move is one of a series of recent steps by Germany towards atoning for crimes committed in the colonial era, including the official recognition in May that it committed genocide in Namibia.
"I believe that all parts of society are becoming more aware now that Germany has a colonial history, too," said Hermann Parzinger, president of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation (SPK), which runs the Berlin museum.
"Awareness (of this period) was somewhat obscured by the great catastrophes of the 20th century -- the world wars, the Holocaust. But we are slowly becoming more conscious of this historical period and its implications."
One reason for this, according to Parzinger, is the completion of the Humboldt Forum, a controversial new museum complex housed in a reconstructed Prussian palace in the heart of Berlin.
The complex, which opened in December, has attracted fierce criticism for planning to show colonial artifacts such as the Benin bronzes in what used to be the main residence of the Hohenzollerns, instigators of German colonialism.
Juergen Zimmerer, a professor of history specialising in the colonial era at the University of Hamburg, also believes the Black Lives Matter movement has "played a role" in mobilising support for a new approach to colonial history in Germany.
440 bronzes
The Benin bronzes, among the most highly regarded works of African art, are now scattered around European museums after being looted by the British at the end of the 19th century.
The Ethnological Museum in Berlin has 530 historical objects from the ancient kingdom, including 440 bronzes -- considered the most important collection outside London's British Museum.
Conversations are ongoing about the details of returning the artworks and whether Berlin may still keep some.
"We would like to continue showing art from Benin in the Humboldt Forum," Parzinger said. "The important thing is that we have a dialogue about this and a common idea with the people in charge in Nigeria."
https://artdaily.cc/news/136874/Ancient-sculptures-prompt-Germany-to-reckon-with-colonial-past
