Return looted artefacts
THE ONGOING debate about whether stolen artefacts should be returned to their countries of origin, just gained fresh legs with reports that Germany is set to return the Benin Bronzes to Nigeria.
Benin Bronzes, a misnomer since the collection also included ivory and wood, represent a collection of thousands of metal plaques and sculptures taken by the British forces from the royal palace of the Kingdom of Benin in the 19th century.
The bronzes were sold throughout the colonising world and have been sighted in exhibitions in France, Austria, Germany, Britain and the United States.
Prized relics from colonies, particularly in Africa, were consistently plundered by the Europeans, and today these priceless treasures are on display in various museums for thousands of visitors, who pay handsome fees, to view and appreciate.
Historians, academics, archivists and people of conscience have been questioning this cultural looting for many years. They have been demanding restitution as they search for ways to correct a painful colonial legacy.
These voices, together with the actions of a few brave activists who still are deeply affected by colonialism, have succeeded in stirring the conscience of some countries and forced them to reckon with their brutal colonial past.
MAKE AMENDS FOR ATROCITIES
Amid this mounting pressure, Italy was moved in 2005 to return the 1,700 year-old Obelisk of Axum to Ethiopia; Norway agreed in 2018 to hand over items taken from Chile’s Easter Island; and, in 2020, the Netherlands returned 1,500 artefacts to Indonesia. Meantime, Greece is still waiting for Britain to return the sculptures known as the Elgin Marbles.
Even though Britain’s colonial arc is wider and deeper than other European countries, it has been most unyielding to make amends for the atrocities of the past. One newspaper likened the country to the proverbial ostrich with its “head buried in the sand” and unwilling to acknowledge that cultural colonialism is doomed.
One may question why Jamaica and Jamaicans should be concerned about this notion of restitution for stolen art treasures. We are very much in the mix, for the British Museum has in its collection a 500-yearold wooden carving of a Taino rain god, and a bird man spirit found in 1792, and a stool that rightly belongs to Jamaica.
We have been told that underwater findings about life in the bustling city of Port Royal included a watch with its hands frozen at the time of the disastrous tsunami which swallowed two-thirds of the port.
Just in case we needed another reason to sever ties with the British monarchy, here’s one, for the British Government is likely to dismiss out of hand any request for the return of these items.
It is very difficult to understand why Jamaica is still clinging to the navel string of its colonial master. Past utterances by People’s National Party leaders, and recent calls by its current leader, confirm that both political parties agree that there should be an end to British rule. This rarely happens, that there is accord on an issue.
We have raised our own flag, created our own anthem, and initiated our own national awards. While we grudgingly look at Barbados, ironically called Little England’, sprint to the finish line to become a republic, we can only hope that Jamaica will follow them down that road much sooner than later.