The Kingdom of Ife is a major exhibition currently on at the British Museum. The fact that the exhibition has sourced many of the artefacts from Nigeria though makes a mockery off the assertions by various museums in relation to Benin artefacts, that they can not honour return requests because the items would not be looked after well enough if they were sent back to Nigeria.

From:
Modern Ghana

ILE-IFE TRIUMPHS IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM, LONDON: WHO SAID NIGERIANS WERE INCAPABLE OF LOOKING AFTER THEIR CULTURAL ARTEFACTS?
By Kwame Opoku, Dr.
Feature Article | Sun, 18 Apr 2010

“A glorious display of Ife sculpture has arrived at the British Museum. Nobody — and I mean nobody — in Britain should miss it. Why? Because it changes our understanding of civilisation. Because it rewrites the story of art. Because it is a once-in-a-lifetime revolutionary event. If none of those is a big enough reason for you, then go along merely to enjoy some of the most graceful and lovely sculpture ever made. Trust me. You need to see this one. “
Waldemar Januszczak (1)

By all standards, the current exhibition in the British Museum entitled, Kingdom of Ife: Sculptures from West Africa, is outstanding. (2) This has been acknowledged by most critics and commentators. The British press is full of praises and enthusiasm. An article by Jonathan Jones, entitled, “The divine art of the Kingdom of Benin” in The Guardian bears a headline declaring:
Read the rest of this entry »