the plaques that had been removed from the walls throughout the city were visualisations of the benin kingdom s history and heritage, and those were all taken away in a wholesale export of this material, leaving very, very little behind. tell me, why are you now and only now returning some of the pieces? i think it s the right time for these collections to go back. one might say it s long overdue. i think the main reason, the most recent reason, is that there has been a request from the nigerian government, and i think fundamentally for us it s the right thing to do. these were stolen, these were looted. there are many, many different ways in which objects came to museums like this. there s such an awareness both within the uk and internationally of museums, colonial legacies, but also of the cultural heritage that is represented in museum collections. and we want the future retelling and care of these collections to be something that s really, really collaborative.
now, this is not a sentiment shared by all. currently, the british museum in london has more than 900 items from the historic kingdom of benin, the largest collection of bronzes in the world, with no current plans to return any. the british museum sent the travel show a statement, where they say that the collections offer an important opportunity for audiences to understand the history of the british conquest of benin city, and to reflect on the impact of that period of colonialism. they re in dialogue with the nigerian government about this, but also cite the british museum act of 1963, that it s their founding responsibility to care for the collection on behalf of the world notjust the bronzes, but all the objects kept here.
during the punitive expedition of 1897, and those are the objects that we will be transferring ownership of. i think it s impossible to overstate just how severe an act of vandalism and cultural violence this was. the heads that we see before us here were several of the objects that graced ancestral altars throughout the palace, and the purpose of those altars was very much to maintain the lineage, to maintain the kingdom. the plaques that had been removed from the walls throughout the city were visualisations of the benin kingdom s history and heritage, and those were all taken away in a wholesale export of this material, leaving very, very little behind. tell me, why are you now and only now returning some of the pieces? i think it s the right time for these collections to go back. one might say it s long overdue. i think the main reason, the most recent reason,
from some of the best educational resources in the world. and that includes valuable treasures looted from afar on colonial expeditions. but we re here because the university has recently announced its actually returning some of those, specifically benin bronzes, to nigeria. and it s there, in what was once known as the kingdom of benin, that i want to start this story. for centuries, this street, igun eronmwon, has been famous for one particular craft bronze casting. its name literally translates to the place where bronze works are made . just five minutes from the palace, traditionally, it was the royal family and dignitaries who d commission pieces to mark historical events. aigbe anthony spent 15 years mastering his craft.
to maintain the kingdom. the plaques that had been removed from the walls throughout the city were visualisations of the benin kingdom s history and heritage, and those were all taken away in a wholesale export of this material, leaving very, very little behind. tell me, why are you now and only now returning some of the pieces? i think it s the right time for these collections to go back. one might say it s long overdue. i think the main reason, the most recent reason, is that there has been a request from the nigerian government, and i think fundamentally for us it s the right thing to do. these were stolen, these were looted. there are many, many different ways in which objects came to museums like this. there s such an awareness