Pressure on London to restitute artworks grows

In 1897, British soldiers bloodily raided the royal palace of the Kingdom of Benin, located in present-day Nigeria. The invaders looted thousands of ornately crafted sculptures made of ivory, brass and bronze, and then sold the looted works throughout Europe.

Even today, the Benin Bronzes — evidence of an ancient and powerful civilization — are scattered throughout museums and private collections around the globe. 

One question is receiving more attention than ever before: Is Europe serious about decolonizing its museums? If so, why is it having such a hard time returning African cultural heritage looted during the colonial era?

"The Benin Bronzes are a touchstone here," Göttingen-based historian Rebekka Habermas tells DW. "The restitution debate is all about reassessing European history." 

The British Museum in particular, which holds the lion's share of artworks from Benin — some 900 pieces — has so far rejected any claims of restitution. The issue goes far beyond the Benin Bronzes.

A position that's behind the times

For example, another prominent case is the dispute over the so-called Parthenon Marbles, a part of a Parthenon frieze that is the centerpiece of London's British Museum. Britain's 1983 National Heritage Act is consistently used as the main reason why the ancient sculptures cannot be returned to Greece. The law stipulates that objects considered part of the country's national heritage may not be taken out of the country.

This line of thought meets with little understanding outside the kingdom, especially in Athens, where Greek authorities have been calling for the return of the Parthenon Marbles for decades.

The British position seems to be behind the times. In the view of restitution expert Habermas, it is merely a "fall-back position" — in other words, an excuse to not return the sculptures and other items acquired from various countries under murky circumstances. "Laws are there to be changed," points out the historian.

Quite unlike France, Spain, Germany or the Netherlands, for example, the British have not come to terms with their colonial past to this day, she adds. "Britain's identity is still based to a large extent on the Empire," says the historian. "That's tremendously irritating, especially if you're German and have a somewhat fractured relationship with your own past."

No moral justification

Why is it so important to return looted cultural property in the first place? "There is simply no moral justification for the confiscation of African artifacts in Western museums," Cameroonian philosopher Achille Mbembe declared in 2021. "It will take the time it takes, but the movement cannot be stopped," he said.

Rebekka Habermas also believes a "symbolic end to the colonial era" is necessary — for the sake of the former colonial empires, as well as the formerly colonized territories. "After all, these relationships live on at an economic, as well as a cultural level."  

The restitution debate gained momentum in the 1960s, when the first African states became independent in the wake of World War II.

However, demands for restitution from Benin to the British Museum and France were not followed by action.

The situation began to change in 2017 when French President Emmanuel Macron spoke about the permanent return of artifacts taken from sub-Saharan Africa in a speech in the African nation of Burkina Faso.

A 'turning point'

Since then, the debate has gained momentum.

In Germany, for example, it became a hot issue during the planning and construction phases of the recently opened Humboldt Forum in Berlin — the centerpiece of which were Benin Bronzes.

Meanwhile, in Belgium, the AfricaMuseum in Tervuren handed over 84,000 artifacts in its inventory to the Democratic Republic of Congo in February 2022.

Similar restitution debates are taking place in the Netherlands, Switzerland and Spain.

A few weeks ago, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and Commissioner for Culture and the Media Claudia Roth called for the return of 20 Benin bronzes to Nigeria to be understood as a "turning point in international cultural policy."

For years, the artifacts had belonged to museums in Berlin, Hamburg, Cologne, Stuttgart and Dresden.

The return, Baerbock said during the handover ceremony, shows a "willingness to critically evaluate one's own actions" with an "open ear for the concerns of those who were victims of colonial atrocities." Nigeria's request for restitution had long been ignored, she said.

In Great Britain, the German approach — giving the items back to the countries they were plundered from — is likely to have been viewed critically, as the restitution debate is making little headway.

The British Museum, headed by German art historian Hartwig Fischer, has said in the past: "The devastation and looting wrought in Benin City in the course of the British military expedition of 1897 is fully acknowledged by the museum, and the circumstances of the acquisition of the Benin objects are explained in the museum's gallery boards and website." A page on the museum's website is dedicated to explaining the tragedy and how the items came into the museum's possession.

Nevertheless, as historian Rebekka Habermas points out, as more museums around the world restitute items in their collections, "the pressure on the British Museum is likely to have increased significantly."

This article was originally written in German.