After the Benin bronzes were transferred to the Oba: the British Museum stopped returning them

2023-05-17 18:29:35

HomeculturalAfter the Benin bronzes were transferred to the Oba: the British Museum stopped returning them

Saxony also wants to wait before returning more bronzes – because of the decree of the Nigerian President, who gave the Benin bronzes to the Oba of Benin.

Suzanne Lenz

A commemorative head for an Oba from the collection of the University of Cambridge’s Museum of Anthropology and Archaeology, due to be returned on May 16th.University of Cambridge

The decree of the outgoing Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari affects the return policy, at least in Great Britain and also in Saxony.

On May 16, the Museum of Anthropology and Archeology, which belongs to the University of Cambridge, wanted to present 116 Benin bronzes to a Nigerian delegation – a highly symbolic act, because not only were the British the ones who plundered and burned down the Benin Palace in 1897, the Benin stole bronzes and sold them to museums around the world. In addition, the country’s most important museum, which also has the largest collection of Benin bronzes, refuses any return discussion: the British Museum in London. However, the transfer of ownership in Cambridge did not take place.

A representative of the institution told the BBC, there is some confusion now so they thought it better to take a break. Museum director Nicholas Thomas hastened to reiterate that in principle the return is not up for negotiation: he has no doubt that the retransfer will take place. We are now talking about October. Cambridge houses the second largest collection of Benin bronzes in Britain.

The confusion they are talking about stems from a decree issued by the Nigerian President back in March, by which he handed over all the Benin bronzes already returned to the Oba of Benin, the successor to the royal family robbed by the British at the end of the 19th century. Oba, who was overthrown by the British, is his great-great-grandfather. Today’s Oba holds no political office, but is the spiritual leader of the Edo people.

The Presidential Decree affects all Benin bronzes

The decree, the existence of which became public knowledge in Europe only ten days ago, also affects the 21 Benin bronzes that German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and Minister of State for Culture Claudia Roth brought back to Nigeria at the end of 2022, half of which came from Berlin. According to the president’s decree, all Benin bronzes that will be returned in the future should also belong to Ewuare II. He alone should be able to decide what happens to them.

The Oba, i.e. the king of Benin, has already announced that he wants to keep them in his palace museum. However, this has to be built first, and it has not been clarified what the access to this museum looks like. Although the Oba is certainly interested in attracting visitors to the Edo state in which he resides with this attraction.

However, the German federal government had previously assumed that the artifacts would be shown in the Edo Museum of West African Art (EMWAA), which has yet to be built, and was designed by the well-known architect David Adjaye. Germany has already invested four million euros in this project, and the smaller building of the EMWAA, the so-called pavilion, is already under construction. The EMWAA is also favored by the governor of the Edo state, Godwin Obaseki.

Bavaria and Saxony have not yet signed any agreements with Nigeria

However, the European museums negotiated and concluded contracts primarily with the National Commission for Museums and Monuments (NCMM). The Berliner Zeitung has the text of the contract between the NCMM and the approximately 500 bronzes previously in the possession of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation. However, the NCMM is not mentioned at all in the Presidential Decree. The President of the SPK, Hermann Parzinger, assumes that the decree is not yet legally binding. NCMM Director General Abba Tijani told the Berliner Zeitung that he has not yet been officially informed of the presidential decree. As a civil servant, he is therefore not yet able to comment on this. This is also an indication that there is obviously still a need for clarification in Nigeria itself.

Perhaps the next Nigerian President, Bola Tinubu, will make the final decision about the future of the Benin Bronzes when he takes office at the end of May.

In Germany, almost all federal states have already concluded the contracts with Nigeria regarding the return of the Benin bronzes. The two exceptions are Bavaria and Saxony. Saxony now wants to wait and see, there are still 262 Benin bronzes in the museums. So far, only the three Benin bronzes have signed a contract, who were transferred to Nigeria by Baerbock and Roth in November 2022. “We are now waiting for a position from Nigeria on how effective this presidential decree, published shortly before an election in Nigeria, will be, whether it is legally binding and how the new government will deal with it. In this respect, we do not see it as a valid legal text until Nigeria confirms it. No further steps will be taken until then,” the Saxon Ministry of Culture told the Berliner Zeitung on request.