As with the Elgin Marbles, many looted Nigerian artefacts are similarly split between different museums around the world – at the start of this article, an illustration is given of a plaque showing a soldier – the top half of it is in the British Museum & the bottom half of it is in London. None of it is currently in Nigeria.
From:
Modern Ghana
BERLIN PLEA FOR THE RETURN OF NIGERIA’S CULTURAL OBJECTS: HOW OFTEN MUST NIGERIA ASK FOR THE RETURN OF ITS STOLEN CULTURAL OBJECTS?
By Kwame Opoku, Dr.
Feature Article | Mon, 15 Sep 2008
When I read reports on the opening of the exhibition Benin Kings and Rituals: Court Arts from Nigeria on 8 February 2008, at the Ethnology Museum, Berlin, I was surprised by the general impression given that the Nigerians were in no hurry to recover the stolen Benin bronzes; they were said to be more interested in co-operation with the Ethnology Museum and above all, in establishing an inventory of the Benin artefacts. (2)
As readers know by now, it has become a hallmark of this travelling exhibition that speeches made at the opening are not fully reported. The museum hosting the exhibition does not issue any full report on the opening. The reason seems to be the desire to avoid raising issues fundamental to the relations between the hosts and Nigeria, such as the issue of restitution of the Benin bronzes. Experience however, has shown that wherever this travelling exhibition went there were controversies regarding restitution. Questions were raised in different manners and with different intensities.
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