Smithsonian to return its Benin Bronzes to Nigeria
Decision by US museum adds to pressure on other institutions in the West to return looted artefacts
THE Smithsonian is to return all of its Benin Bronzes to Nigeria, as pressure mounts on leading museums to repatriate their looted treasures.
Thousands of metal artworks from the Kingdom of Benin, now part of Nigeria, were seized during a punitive raid by British imperial forces in 1897, and the pieces made their way into major collections around the world.
The Smithsonian Museum in Washington, DC, has pledged to relinquish ownership of all 39 of its bronzes and return them to Nigeria.
Experts believe the decision puts further pressure on institutions to return looted artefacts, including the collection of Benin Bronzes at the British Museum, the largest in the world with around 700 objects.
Prof Dan Hicks, of the Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford – which itself holds more than 300 bronzes – has long advocated for the return of the artefacts, and believes the Smithsonian’s move could be a turning point.
He said the announcement was “a sign that we are witnessing a fundamental global shift in the ethics of museum curation. Meanwhile the British Museum, we read, is still holding on to the old 20th-century fantasy that it might merely loan back what was stolen from others, rather than making permanent, unconditional returns.
“In refusing to embrace change they are simply making themselves obsolete and irrelevant.” The British Museum has hinted that works could go on loan to Nigeria, but has not said it would give up ownership. “The museum remains committed to thorough and open investigation of Benin collection histories. This includes fully acknowledging and understanding the colonial history which forms the key context for the development of the museum’s Benin collections,” a spokesman said.
It has been suggested that the museum could become an outlier because more institutions are willing to repatriate contested artefacts, a process which has started in the UK, where the Horniman Museum has offered to return its 49 pieces. Nigerian authorities have yet to accept the offer.
The Bristol Museum and the Hancock Museum in Newcastle have also taken steps to return pieces, along with museums at the universities of Aberdeen and Cambridge. Museums in Germany, where hundreds of Bronzes are held, have also decided on repatriation.
The bulk of the Smithsonian’s Benin collection was held at the National Museum of African Art (NMAA), its constituent organisation in Washington.
It will be shipped at the organisation’s expense to be displayed at the National Museum of Benin, in Nigeria, where authorities have welcomed the decision to repatriate.
Abba Isa Tijani, director general of Nigeria’s National Commission for Museums and Monument, said: “I commend the Smithsonian. We have not encountered another museum that has done as much.”
Although not all of its Benin pieces were seized in the 1897 raid, the Smithsonian took the decision last year to remove its collection from display. Ngaire Blankenberg, the NMAA’S director, said: “We cannot build for the future without making our best effort at healing the wounds of the past.”