African artefacts looted, stolen, and forcefully taken belong to the African communities they were taken from in the Africa continent, Victor Ehikhamenor argues. He says, ‘In discussing restitution, we must also let the world know that creativity on the continent has always been a continuum, there was no break.’
Editor's note: This essay is available in our print issue, A New Chapter for African Artefacts?. Buy the issue here.
The movement to reclaim Africa’s stolen art and cultural artefacts is constantly evolving. Requests for reparations have been repressed by European museums and governments since the early stages of post-colonial political independence played out across Africa. Over the years, Western countries have suggested their reluctance to return these artefacts is driven by a lack of suitable storage facilities on the continent. To which, visual artist Victor Ehikhamenor, wrote via email, ‘who told them all of the works were supposed to be “looked after”?’
Ehikhamenor’s recent work includes a 12-foot installation he staged at St. Paul’s Cathedral in the United Kingdom earlier this year, to commemorate the victims of Britain’s 1897 raid on the ancient Benin Kingdom. During the raid, British soldiers burned ruler, Oba Ovonramwen’s palace and looted thousands of Benin royal objects. Ehikhamenor, who hails from Edo State and whose ancestral community is the Benin Kingdom, explained that the West’s storage argument for withholding African artefacts is flawed because not all objects were meant to be stored.
This interview features in our print issue, ‘A New Chapter for African Artefacts?' and is only available online to paying subscribers. To subscribe, buy a subscription plan here from N1,000 / month (students) and N3,500 / month (non-students). Already a subscriber? log in.