Germany returns 2 treasures from looted Benin Bronzes to Nigeria

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Germany returns 2 treasures from looted Benin Bronzes to Nigeria

One of the artifacts being returned to Nigeria by Germany is an intricately designed 16th century plaque depicting a king with four attendants.

Two of the renowned artifacts were given back to Nigeria on Friday, and Germany intends to give the African country ownership of some 1,100 more.

Germany returned two of the priceless artifacts known as the Benin Bronzes to Nigeria on Friday after reaching an agreement that could see hundreds more return to the country from which they were looted over 100 years ago. The return of the two artifacts — a head of a king, known as an oba, and an intricately designed 16th century plaque — happened as Germany and Nigeria s culture ministers met in Berlin to sign an agreement that paved the way for the African country to take over the 1,100 Benin bronzes currently in Germany's museums. Once ownership is transferred, it is up to Nigerian authorities to decide which artifacts they want back, and which they want to keep in German museums as cultural ambassadors for Nigeria.

The Benin Bronzes are a set of several thousand intricate artifacts that, despite their name, are mostly made of brass and include carved elephant tusks and ivory leopard statues. They come from the ancient kingdom of Benin, now in southern Nigeria, and the most famous items are a series of brass plaques that were once nailed to pillars in the kingdom's main palace. In 1897 British forces looted thousands of bronzes during a violent raid in Benin City, and soon the items were scattered across museums around the world.

Over the past five years, there has been growing momentum to return the bronzes and other items looted under colonialism to their countries of origin, especially after President Emmanuel Macron of France said returning items from Africa's heritage to the continent was a top priority. European museums have been at the forefront of those discussions, but some organizations in the United States have acted as well. In March, the Smithsonian Institution said it would return most of its 39 bronzes to Nigeria and ship them at the institution's expense.

The states and cities that oversee its museums must pass legislation confirming the ownership transfer, given Germany's complex political structure, but Goergen believes that will be completed in the near future. Some authorities like Baden-W rttemberg s, the region that includes Stuttgart's Linden ethnographical museum, have already passed resolutions for their return. Many of the bronzes are expected to end up in a new museum planned for Benin City, called the Edo Museum of West African Art. Phillip Ihenacho, a financier who is leading efforts to raise money for the project, said in a telephone interview that Friday s agreement was a significant achievement. He said that Nigeria's decision to decide the future of the bronzes was a fundamentally different relationship to what we had before. Ihenacho said work had yet to start on the museum, but he hoped that the construction of a pavilion to store and display returned items would begin in August and will be completed by the end of 2023. With Friday s announcement, attention will likely shift to Britain's museums. Nigeria requested its antiquities back from the British Museum in London last year, which has some 900 Benin bronzes in its collections. Nigeria's National Commission for Museums and Monuments has made similar requests to other museums, including the Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford, which has 94 bronzes in its collections, and whose governing body said in March it supports returning the items. Several British museums are part of a network called the Benin Dialogue Group, which was set to send bronzes back to Nigeria in a rotating series of loans, but the movement by Germany shows how that is being superseded.