Ghana gold is ‘dry run’ for Elgin Marbles’ return
British Museum to return jewellery to Africa in move that may pave way for wider deal on disputed artefacts
THE BRITISH MUSEUM will send golden treasures back to Ghana in a historic loan deal that could pave the way for the Elgin Marbles to be returned.
A deal has been struck to return looted artefacts to a museum in Ghana in a long-term arrangement agreed following pressure from Osei Tutu II, a Ghanaian leader who attended the Coronation of King Charles.
Museums bosses hope the groundbreaking deal, struck in partnership with the V&A Museum, could provide a template for handling repatriation disputes and offer a way to resolve the long-running row over the Elgin Marbles. Greece has demanded that the Marbles be returned, while Nigeria and Ethiopia are among the growing number of nations seeking repatriation of cultural artefacts. However, British law prevents objects from being removed from public collections.
The new long-term deals for more than 30 gold and silver artefacts looted from the Asante – a West African people whose wealthy 18th-century empire became known for fierce warriors and control of the gold trade – could provide a model for museums seeking to return controversial treasures. A senior British Museum source said the institution was “working to strengthen our relationship with our colleagues in Greece” and to replicate with the Greek authorities the “level of engagement we have with museums in other countries – as this announcement shows”.
They added: “We are still exploring if there is an arrangement that would allow some of the Parthenon sculptures to travel to Greece ... We may not succeed and reach an agreement, but believe it is worth trying to find a way through to mutual benefit.”
George Osborne, the British Museum’s chairman, has been pushing for a partnership with Greece that could allow the Marbles to be returned to Athens. The museum is prevented from giving away items in its collection, held for the public, by the British Museum Act 1963, which was originally introduced over concerns floundering museums could sell off their assets. The V&A Museum is similarly hampered, but by the later National Heritage Act 1983.
Tristram Hunt, the V&A’S director who has long called for legislative changes that would allow museums to legally hand over contested treasures, said the new deal had been struck “as part of our commitment to sharing collections with a colonial past”
Under the British Museum’s deal, artefacts will be loaned for a period of three years. The V&A’S deal will also last three years, but with the option to renew with no definite end point. The announcement of the multi-museum deal for the objects coincides with the 150th anniversary of the third AngloAsante war, which broke out in 1873. The conflict resulted in a British victory over the West African empire, which centred on territory that later became Ghana. British forces burnt the capital of Kumasi to the ground and looted the Asante royal palace, taking and later selling the gold central to the court and the empire’s economy. Other golden artefacts were given to the British as reparations payments for the cost of the war, while some were later acquired and sold at auction while Asante people were under colonial rule. Ghana gained independence from the British in 1957. Now largely citizens of Ghana, the Asante, or Ashanti, remain culturally distinct with their own customs, legal framework and spiritual practices.
Artefacts that made their way into the British Museum include items of looted golden regalia worn by Asante kings. The V&A holds a golden peace pipe, among other treasures. The V&A will return 17 individual items and the British Museum 15, with the objects set to be displayed in the Manhyia Palace Museum in Kumasi, the seat of Osei Tutu II, the influential king who does not hold any constitutional power. The 73-year-old monarch visited London in May last year for the Coronation, and took the opportunity to negotiate a deal for the return of the golden artefacts. There are hopes deals could provide a solution to the issue of former colonial nations seeking the return of their cultural treasures, with Nigeria’s demand for the Benin Bronzes among a number of ongoing rows. Mr Hunt has suggested sending looted artefacts back to Ethiopia under a longterm loan arrangement. The loan would have required the Ghanaian party to accept that the treasures are legally owned by the British Museum and V&A, a clause that is the current sticking point for Greek officials.
‘We may not succeed and reach an agreement, but believe it is worth trying to find a way’