New York organization: NGO against return of all Benin bronzes

Museums worldwide want to return Benin bronzes to Nigeria. But a New York organization of descendants of West African slaves wants to prevent a blanket return of the looted art.

It was a trip that also attracted a lot of international attention: in the week before Christmas, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and Minister of State for Culture Claudia Roth flew to Nigeria. In the hold of the government plane: 20 precious so-called Benin bronzes from various German museums.

For almost ten years there had been arguments about the return of the valuable centuries-old works of art. Now the Federal Foreign Minister announced: “With our visit, the Benin bronzes are finally returning to where they belong, namely to Nigeria.”

NGO: Kingdom of Benin benefited from slave trade

But the New York “Restitution Study Group” has doubts about that. The non-profit organization of descendants of West African slaves rejects the general return of the Benin bronzes, which were stolen by British troops from the royal palace of Benin in 1897 as war booty and later ended up in museums all over the world – more than 1000 of them also in Germany.

The transatlantic slave trade existed long before colonialism, says Deadria Farmer-Paellmann, director of the Restitution Study Group. The Kingdom of Benin had been involved for 300 years. European slave traders would have paid Benin in exchange for people with “manillas,” metal bracelets. These were then melted down and processed into the Benin bronzes.

It’s about the bronzes from the colonial era

According to her account, the Benin bronzes from the 16th to 19th centuries were primarily made with the “blood metal” of the slave traders. She therefore demands that the works of art be examined very carefully before they are returned to Nigeria.

“We believe that Germany is doing the right thing in returning the Benin bronzes from before the slave trade, i.e. those from the 12th to 15th centuries,” explains Farmer-Paellmann. “But Germany and every other nation should keep the 16th-19th century bronzes and not return them to the slave traders’ descendants and heirs.”

From Farmer-Paellmann’s point of view, these are the Nigerian rulers, especially those in the state of Edo, whom she sharply accuses: “Nigeria still has a big problem with human trafficking today. Benin City, the entire Edo region is the center of it. They have never stopped human trafficking there.”

If they get the bronzes back now, “then we’ll even reward them for it. We want human trafficking to stop. Giving them the bronzes from the slave trade of all things is not the right message.”

The whereabouts of missing bronzes are to be clarified

Another allegation: the bronzes were used in human sacrifice rituals. A practice that only ended after the British punitive expedition in 1897.

And the group wants to prevent the transfer of controversial Benin bronzes to Nigeria for another reason: “We know that the relics are disappearing.” After Nigeria’s independence, many bronzes were returned – but are not in the museums where they should be. She assumes that 150 bronzes are missing from the Benin National Museum alone: ​​”And we fear that the new ones that are now being returned will also disappear. It is therefore important that all nations ask questions about where the bronzes are before they are returned .”

Petition and lawsuit against further returns

With a lawsuit against the Museum of African Art in Washington, the “Restitution Study Group” now wants to prevent the 20 Benin bronzes that have been brought from the museum to Nigeria. In England, the group has started a petition to stop returns from the British Museum in London, which holds the largest number of Benin bronzes in the world.

“We believe that, as descendants of enslaved Africans, we should be given special opportunities in connection with the Benin Bronzes: internships, employment, and entrepreneurial activities,” the statement said. “The works should remain in the places where we live today as a result of slavery.”

There is little research on the connection between the slave trade and the bronzes: “It’s a part of history that is completely ignored. We now want it to be explored around the world.”