Of the œworks looted in the colonies in the 19th century kept in Germany will return to Nigerien lands. They are exhibited one last time in Berlin before returning to their native country.
Article written by
Published
Reading time : 1 min.
These are pieces of inestimable value, some of the finest bronzes of African art. Among these treasures, a commemorative head of a king, two thrones which come from a palace of Benin City, former capital of the Kingdom of Benin today become the south-west of Nigeria. These works are exhibited for the very last time in Berlin, at the Humboldt Forum before being returned to their country of origin.
The sculptures were stolen during the colonial era by the British at the end of the 19th century before being scattered in several museums across Europe. This restitution is part of a long process put in place by Germany to repair “colonial injustices“, “this is the beginning of a collaboration that will last a long time” with “Nigerien partners“, adds Hermann Parzinger, president of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation.
/2022/09/15/phpqqDrsF.jpg)
Germany is trying to make peace with its history linked to the African continent. In May 2021, the country officially recognized a genocide perpetrated in Namibia, and for the past few years it has been accelerating the restitution of looted works. “Like the Netherlands and Belgium, Germany has implemented museum policies with a lucid look at the colonial past”, explains Pascal Blanchard, French historian, specialist in the “colonial fact” and immigration in France, to AFP. Since its reopening in 2018, the large museum dedicated to Africa in Tervuren near Brussels has been advocating a “critically” on its collection and the way it was formed by the King of the Belgians Leopold II. Same story for the Tropenmuseum in Amsterdam. France also returned to Benin in November 2021, 26 royal treasures from Abomey .
Commendable returns of works, but slow and late for some. “African demands for restitution date back to the independence of these countries in the 1960s. They have been suppressed, refused, forgotten for years.“, explains the historian Bénédicte Savoy. Especially since other establishments have not yet started this process, like the British Museum in London which houses more than 700 bronzes from colonization.