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London’s Horniman Museum is giving dozens of artefacts back to Nigeria. The Benin Bronzes is a collection of thousands of objects located in institutions and museums around the world, including a substantial number held in the UK in places like the British Museum and the Horniman. But they weren’t acquired legally, they were looted, taken by force by colonial forces in Africa and brought to Europe, and then spread around the world.
Ownership of the Horniman’s collection of 72 Benin artefacts was officially handed over on Monday, with the first six objects returned at the same time. The rest of the collection will stay in the UK on loan for now, before eventually being given back over the coming years. The move comes after a request from Nigeria’s National Commission for Museums and Monuments, which has been asking museums around the world to repatriate their Benin Bronzes.
Obviously, the Benin Bronzes aren’t the only things in our museums that were dodgily acquired. Calls are growing for the return of the Maqdala Treasures and the Parthenon Marbles too – you can read all about the hows and whys of that in our primer here – with varying degrees of success.
But the Horniman has now set a precedent that many are hoping the British Museum will follow. The institution owns more than 900 Benin objects that it has so far steadfastly refused to return. It’s not alone, though: there are currently around 5,000 Benin Bronzes scattered around the world.
You can visit the Horniman’s on-loan Benin objects right now, more details here.
Want to see art that wasn’t looted? Here are the top ten exhibitions in London right now.
Want more? Here are some free art exhibitions.