For 125 years, Benin bronzes have been away from their original homes. Last Friday, Nigerian and German governments signed a joint agreement, paving way for the return of 1,130 Benin bronzes to Nigeria. The great great granddaughter of Oba Ovonramwen N’ogbaisi, who is a widely-acclaimed artist and scholar at the University of Lagos (UNILAG), Prof. Peju Layiwola, has been at the forefront of advocacy for the return of the works. Prof. Layiwola is in Germany for an exhibition on the Benin bronzes. She was also at the Nigeria-Germany accord ceremony. In this chat with EVELYN OSAGIE, she shares her thoughts on the return of the bronzes and other issues.
You have dreamed of it, advocated/campaigned for it, held art exhibitions on it and wrote a poem on it and finally saw it become reality. How do you feel about the recent handing over agreement signed and how do you feel being part of history?
Africa was stripped of its many resources which were used to develop western societies. This massive pillaging of Africa’s resources made us poorer and, in many ways, truncated our development. The looting of Benin is a clear case of plundering, but also an attempt at exterminating the entire culture. While the sack of Benin was going on, British soldiers were busy taking samples of exotic plants and palm trees. Palm oil was such a great resource that was exploited. It was used to oil industrial engines in the western world. The exile of the Oba was meant to bring to an end a culture that had existed for many centuries. So, one clear case of expropriation of the African continent would be the looting of thousands of Benin treasures. British soldiers documented this terrible incursion through photography and illustrations which are records of that inglorious past.
What are the possible ways of restitution?
Restitution in the case of Benin as in many other cultures is a call for justice. It creates a platform for discussions about the material culture of a people who were violently dispossessed of their art. In Benin’s case, we hope that this is done on an eye-to-eye ball level. It is time to reclaim a bit of what had been lost. It is also a period of restoration and a righting of wrong deeds of the past committed by imperialists. It is also a call for repair, care and healing. Restitution usually should go with reparations. Benin materials have been away for 125 years from their original homes. There are families that lost loved ones in the imbroglio that ensued between the British and Benin – there were huge losses and damages – burning of villages and towns, and killing of innocent people. There is also a loss of heritage materials. The palace where the British soldiers lay siege was also razed down. Some of the looted ivories are charred, bearing signs of the fire that engulfed the palace can still be found in western museums. This also means that many works would have been lost in the inferno as well. Today, the Oba’s palace occupies a much smaller space than it did pre-1897. Simply put, restitution shouldn’t be a mere return of Benin artifacts. For some time now, there have been debates and efforts regarding the return of the treasures, particularly by Benin royals, led by the past Obas. The arts and academic communities have also been involved in fight, which have been yielding positively. For example, in recent times, some of the bronzes have been returned. And I must say, the recent move by the German government last Friday is laudable.
However, there should be a commitment to the process of reparations and healing. Countries and institutions which have had these objects should put back something of value as a relic of atonement and show remorse for the dastardly acts of their forebears. These will become new forms of memorials.
You have dreamed, campaigned, held art exhibitions and wrote a poem on it and it’s becoming reality. What is the high point of your efforts: and, in fact, how do you feel about the recent handing over agreement between Germany and Nigeria last Friday?
It is such a satisfying feeling as an artist to see that one’s work and research which had been advocating for the return of Benin treasures has finally come to fruition.
In this struggle for the repatriation of Benin tangible patrimony, members of the Benin royal family have been at the forefront of the clamour long before the Nigerian government showed any interest. As far back as 1935, HRM Oba Akenzua II solicited the help of Lord Plymouth for the return of two looted Benin stools in Berlin.
As a member of the royal family and an artist who has been in the frontline of the campaign, I really feel happy that this is happening. It’s restoring dignity and pride in the culture that I was raised in. It’s sad that it is coming several decades after. But as I’ve said, I think that it is important that that historical injustice is addressed at this time.
Some works were recently returned by the University of Aberdeen and the Jesus College, Cambridge, what does this repatriation mean for Benin and the average Benin person?
Two bronze sculptures were returned to HRM, Oba Ewuare II through the Federal Government of Nigeria – an ancestral head and a Cock. This means a lot not only to Benin City, but to Nigeria, Africa and the African diaspora. It is a victory in many ways and brings to fruition a journey for the clamour for Benin treasures which started several decades ago. We must commend the students and the leadership of the Jesus College, Cambridge, who insisted on the return of this looted treasure. It also shows that there are still people of good conscience. In terms of its impact on Benin heritage, there is a resurgence of particular Benin imagery associated with recent returns as well as those made by Adrian Walker in 2014. Bronze gongs, idiophones, cockerels and ancestral heads like the iconic Queen Idia (FESTAC MASK) have become a reference point for contemporary expressions and frequent representations on clothing, banners, posters, publications and memorabilia. Benin is replete with these images of returned treasures. This resurgence is a cultural revival of Benin art and history. There is more value attached to the appreciation of the arts. The average Benin person already takes pride in his/her language, art and history. This will bring about added verve to that consciousness.
Finally, seeing the mammoth crowd that gathered in the palace when the Cambridge and Aberdeen materials were returned will tell any onlooker that there can be no better place to reconcile these treasures other than from where they were removed. The broader question of how they will be displayed and consumed by a larger public is what the Federal Government and the palace should work out.
You are one of Africa’s widely-acclaimed artists and academics who have clamoured for the return of artefacts stolen from Africa, Benin in particular. Is it inspired by your link to the Benin throne?
Ola Rotimi wrote his play, “Ovoranmwen N’ogbaisi” in 1974. Ahmed Yerima wrote “Trials of Oba Ovoranmwen” in 1997. Wole Soyinka wrote his memoirs and his attempt at retrieving a looted treasure and Niyi Osundare wrote a 1977 poem inspired by the Benin loot. All these scholars who are great sources of inspiration are not from Benin and do not have any filial link with the Benin royalty. So, it is legitimate for any scholar of history to engage with this topic because it touches us at our very core. It is about our identity as a people connected by our beliefs and culture.
You have been in Germany for an exhibition on Benin bronzes and other engagements in that regard, could you tell us about the events?
I was invited to co-curate a major exhibition, titled “Resist: The Art of Resistance” along with three independent curators from the global south at the Rautenstrauch-Joest Museum, Koln. These curators were to curate four autonomous spaces focusing on anti-colonial struggles within the context of a larger exhibition on resistance. In its experimental curatorial premise, it provided a platform for hearing stories from activists and artists living in the global south. What is important is who is telling the story and who are those representing communities where colonial violence had occurred? Esther Utjiua Muinjangue (Namibia) and Ida Hoffmann (Namibia) worked on the German genocide in Namibia amongst the Llama and Heroro people. In Haus, a collective of young people expressed the struggle and fight for the rights of migrants and refugees in Koln; and Timea Junghaus reflects on internal colonialism and talks about anti-colonial resistance of the Roma people, the largest minority group in Europe.
I was to engage with the looted Benin bronzes in the collection to activate the space and bring out meaning from these objects that had largely been tucked away in storage. There were said to be 96 Benin bronzes in the collection which came from the 1897 event. Of the 96, only three had been shown to the public- the others had been kept in storage for decades. Rather than have a solo exhibition, I decided to invite some artists whose works I had followed over the years and those who had been dedicated to this call – Monday Midnite, Alao Lukman, Jimoh Ganiyu, Osaze Amadasun and Nwakuso Edozien featured works in various genre as a way of using contemporary art to recall or reclaim the classical Benin objects. This was the first time I physically touched a Benin object – an act that inspired my poem titled ‘I have come to take you home’. This exhibition opened in December 2020 and closed in January 2022. As a follow-up, a current exhibition, ‘I Miss You’ opened on April 29 at the Rautenstrauch-Joest Museum. The same collection of Benin looted art were shown in a dark and solemn space, like the hallowed chamber of shrines that once held these works. To deemphasise the aesthetics of the work and focus on the context of trauma, loss and grief, the works were displayed without captions. All objects were exhibited individually in their own right as pieces with a history and agency of their own.
My work over the last two years with the Rautenstrauch-Joest Museum reflects the energy of a young crop of curators who are genuinely committed to the return of Benin looted art. The Director, Nanette Snoep and the amazing team of curators and museum experts through their numerous programmes have brought greater awareness to the collection in their museum with the intention of returning them. The exhibition is planned to be the last show in Germany before the works are returned to Nigeria. To this end, a video made by Salman Abdo showing my hands undoing the museum ascension marks symbolically prepares the works for repatriation. In conclusion, it is such a satisfying feeling seeing that one’s work and research on the return of Benin treasures is finally coming to fruition.
