Germany gives Nigeria 20 Benin bronzes

Germany has delivered 20 Benin bronzes from its museums to Nigeria, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said on Tuesday, becoming the latest European country to return cultural artifacts to their African homeland. . The deliveries are the clearest sign yet of a growing push for the return of artifacts taken out of Africa by Europeans during the colonial period. Germany agreed to start returning Benin bronzes held in its museums last year. This year, Germany signed a declaration with Nigeria to release all 1,130 Benin bronzes – copper-alloy relief sculptures, many depicting court figures – in German public museums. The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Nigeria, Geoffrey Onyeama, and the Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed, were present at the handover ceremony, which was also attended by the Minister of Culture and Media of Germany, Claudia Roth, as well as directors of museums in Germany. . “Today we are taking an expected step: we are returning 20 Benin bronzes from German museums to where they belong, to their homeland,” Baerbock told reporters in Abuja. Some of Benin’s bronze artifacts had been in German custody for nearly two centuries, with some in private collections and casinos, Nigerian officials said. The returns are likely to increase pressure on the British Museum in London, which holds by far the largest and most significant collection of Benin bronzes. Nigeria’s information minister has asked the British Museum to release the more than 900 Benin bronzes.

Agência Brasil