‘There Cannot Be a Single Answer’

Though they are crucial to the movement, advocating for the restitution of stolen African artefacts cannot be left to sympathetic actors of the West, Chika Okeke-Agulu argues. He says, ‘It is no surprise that most of the important scholarly publication on royal Benin art have been by researchers overseas who have better access to museums and collections that benefitted, directly or indirectly, from colonial-era looting.’

Written by Wale Lawal

Dec 8, 2022

‘There Cannot Be a Single Answer’ .Courtesy of Chika-Okeke Agulu

Editor’s note: This essay is available in our print issue, A New Chapter for African Artefacts?. Buy the issue here.

In 2018, Senegalese economist, Felwine Sarr, and French art historian, Bénédicte Savoy, published a restitution report. Commissioned by French president, Emmanuel Macron, if anything, the report formally kickstarted the Macron government’s ambition to return artefacts looted by the French army in 1892 to Benin Republic. ‘It provided segments of the pro-restitution camp good material, as well as some convenient, though questionable soundbites, like the claim in the report that 90—95 per cent of Africa’s cultural heritage are held in museum collections overseas,’ Chika Okeke-Agulu, who is a professor of African and African Diaspora Art at Princeton University, wrote via email. According to Okeke-Agulu, a prominent voice in academia and the art world pushing for the return of African artefacts, ‘provenance research is vital to restitution claims, especially where the origins and ownership of given artefacts are not properly and reliably documented.’

The movement to return stolen Africa’s stolen art and cultural artefacts is a global movement; yet even among Africans, where exactly the stolen artefacts belong is a heavy debate. ‘“African artefacts” refers to a wide range of objects with different histories, levels of significance, and cultural contexts,’ Okeke-Agulu said. ‘So, there cannot be a single answer to the question of where and to whom repatriated artefacts should go.’ Western institutions have also often argued that African countries lack the facilities required to house these objects. In this regard, artist and art historian, Okeke–Agulu, noted that, ‘the “poor facilities argument” sounded much like someone seizing and refusing to return a neighbour’s fancy BMW until the owner built a more appropriate garage for the car.’

It is also important to highlight how the limited availability of artefacts in African museums has continued to affect contemporary and future African artists. ‘An art student in Nigeria interested in drawing inspiration from the techniques, and aesthetics of classical Benin metal sculpture, cannot access the best examples of this artistic tradition unless they travel to the museums of Europe with far greater number of works than you can find in Nigeria,’ Okeke-Agulu said. ‘It is no surprise that most of the important scholarly publications on royal Benin art have been by researchers overseas who have better access to these museums and collections that benefitted, directly or indirectly, from colonial-era looting.’

Our full interview continues below.

THE REPUBLIC

You once mentioned that pressure from African voices has in the past decade or so consistently compelled Western institutions to give up objects in their custody that were expropriated from Benin City. How is African advocacy important to the struggle for repatriation?

CHIKA OKEKE-AGULU

I was referring to role of Africans in advocating for the restitution of looted artefacts. My point is that this work cannot be left to sympathetic actors in the West (though they are crucial). After all, if this matter is truly important to Africans, as it should be, then they—and I mean people in government, civil society, and the academia—must show up and joining the struggle.

THE REPUBLIC

In the ongoing debate about whether African artefacts should be returned to local museums or local communities, where do you land on the subject of where African artefacts belong?

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‘There Cannot Be a Single Answer’

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CHIKA OKEKE-AGULU

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