Germany, Nigeria to sign accord on return of Benin Bronzes

BERLIN –

Friday’s agreement between Nigeria, Germany and Nigeria will be signed in Berlin. It will pave the way for the return to Africa of centuries-old sculptures known collectively as the Benin Bronzes. These were taken from Africa in 1900 and displayed in German museums.

Both North American and European governments have been increasingly keen to resolve ownership disputes over looted objects from colonial times.

In 1897, a British colonial expedition seized the bas-relief Bronzes as well as a large number of other treasures from the Royal Palace of the Kingdom Of Benin, now in southern Nigeria.

The Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation is an authority that oversees many Berlin museums. It announced last year that formal negotiations were underway to return pieces it has in its collection. Many of them date back to the 16th and 18th centuries.

The memorandum to understanding will be signed in Berlin by Annalena Bock, German Foreign Minister, Culture Minister Claudia Roth and Lai Mohammed, Nigeria’s Culture minister and Minister of State For Foreign Affairs Zubairo Dada.

The final details of the restitution are yet to be announced. However, the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation stated that it expects to keep some Bronzes on loan from Nigeria.

The Smithsonian took 10 Benin Bronze pieces off display at the National Museum of African Art, Washington, D.C., this year and announced a new ethics return policy. Other U.S. museums are also starting to discuss returning such objects. France announced last year that it would return the Abomey Treasures (also known as the Abomey Treasures) to Benin as part its wider effort to right colonial wrongs.

Many of the objects are still in the British Museum. They have resisted requests to return them.