Two Benin bronzes have been returned to a palace in Nigeria more than a century after they were pillaged by British troops, raising hopes that thousands more artefacts could finally be returned to their ancestral home.
- Around 90 per cent of Africa's cultural heritage is estimated to be held in Europe
- African nations are battling to have cultural artefacts stolen under colonial rule returned
- The British Museum in London holds tens of thousands of African items
The artefacts, now mostly in Europe, were stolen from the once-mighty Benin Kingdom, now south-western Nigeria, by explorers and colonisers and are among Africa's most significant heritage objects.
They were created as early as the 16th century onwards, according to the British Museum.
Oba (king) Ewuare II received sculptures of a cockerel and the head of a long-ago predecessor in a colourful ceremony at the Oba palace in Benin City.
Spokesman Charles Edosonmwan noted that some of the bronzes were kept as far away as New Zealand, the United States and Japan.
The two artefacts were handed over to the Nigerian High Commission in October by the University of Aberdeen and Cambridge University's Jesus College.
"They are not just art but they are things that underline the significance of our spirituality," Mr Edosonmwan said in an interview on the sidelines of a ceremony attended by traditional leaders.
The return is another milestone in the years-long fight by African countries to recover looted works, as numerous European institutions are grappling with the cultural legacies of colonialism.
Some 90 per cent of Africa's cultural heritage is believed to be in Europe, French art historians estimate.
Musée du quai Branly — Jacques Chirac in Paris alone holds around 70,000 African objects and London's British Museum tens of thousands more.
Reuters