Netherlands Museum To Return Looted ‘Benin Bronzes’ To Nigeria

A Dutch museum will repatriate its portion of the Benin Bronzes to their rightful residence in Nigeria.

According to Good News Network, the Museum Volkenkunde will return the 119 artifacts that originally belonged to the outdated Kingdom of Benin. The kingdom’s origins lie in modern-day Nigeria, not the fashionable nation of Benin, because the West African nation plans to just accept the stolen gadgets again into its rightful possession.

The British took the famed bronze statues within the nineteenth century, and the British Museum nonetheless holds nearly all of them. The lots of of stolen artifacts grew to become a significant level within the subject of looted artwork, with the gadgets unfold throughout the Western artwork world. In 2022, Nigeria despatched out formal requests to museums to return the stolen gadgets.

Now, the Netherlands’ folks artwork museum has agreed to return its share of the gadgets to Nigeria’s National Commission for Museums and Monuments. The fee made an announcement concerning the “good instance” set by the Dutch, whereas hoping that they might affect different nations to comply with go well with on repatriation.

“We thank the Netherlands for his or her cooperation and hope it will set a great instance for different nations of the world when it comes to repatriation of misplaced or looted antiquities,” Olugible Holloway, the fee’s director, said in a statement obtained by Euro News.

The Dutch tradition and training minister additionally issued an announcement concerning the significance of returning the Benin Bronzes. Calling them “indispensable” to Nigerian historical past and tradition, the federal government official thought of the repatriation an act of international accountability.

“Cultural heritage is important for telling and dwelling the historical past of a rustic and a group,” Eppo Bruins, the Dutch tradition and training minister, mentioned. “The Benin Bronzes are indispensable to Nigeria. It is nice that they’re going again.”

In the U.S., a few of the statues are presently on display on the Smithsonian Institution. However, following Nigeria’s public request, the museum entered a mortgage settlement to maintain 9 of those statues on show till the tip of 2026.

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