A New Chapter for African Artefacts?

African artefacts are increasingly being returned to African governments and, with this, the debate on the repatriation of African artefacts from the West is evolving. Our latest issue, A New Chapter for African Artefacts?, looks at the African ideas, politics and stakeholders shaping this debate. Purchase the issue here. We ship worldwide.

Written by Wale Lawal

Dec 8, 2022

A New Chapter for African Artefacts?. ONYINYE DIKE / THE REPUBLIC.

Following a long history of demands from African activists, artists, governments and scholars, the West appears to be changing its position towards repatriating looted African artefacts. Most recently in August 2022, Oxford University and Cambridge University announced their intention to return over 200 Benin Bronzes to Nigeria—should it happen, it will be the largest of such returns the UK has made to any African country so far. The ‘restitution movement’ as it is sometimes called is often presented as sudden, but—at least for Africans—it is an old movement. Indeed, Africans had called for the return of looted artefacts as early as the nineteenth century, following Britain’s 1897 raid on the Benin Kingdom, and throughout the decolonization era. But why are we only now seeing traction? And what are the politics of these returns?

Experts estimate that over 90 per cent of African artefacts are held in Western custody. This figure, like Princeton professor, Chika Okeke Agulu told The Republic, may demand some scrutiny. However, along with the 2018 Savoy-Sarr report from which it originates, this figure has undoubtedly helped create urgency and necessity around returning Africa’s stolen objects. For years, the West has propped its reluctance to return these artefacts on at least two arguments: first, historical uncertainty, or the inability (due to a lack of records) to tell where each artefact belongs and, therefore, where they must go. Second, infrastructure, the notion that African countries lack the facilities to preserve these objects—to which Africans have often responded, but were these objects intended to be preserved? Neither of these arguments hold weight and that such arguments gained prominence and have persevered reveals the extent to which mainstream discussions of African artefacts have historically prioritized the Western worldview.

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About the Author

Wale Lawal

is the Editor of The Republic.

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A New Chapter for African Artefacts?