NEFERTITI, IDIA AND OTHER AFRICAN ICONS IN EUROPEAN MUSEUMS: THE THIN EDGE OF EUROPEAN MORALITY
I was once asked by someone, who was aware of my view that African art objects in European museums should in principle be returned to Africa, which of the African queens in European museums, Nefertiti or Ida was the most beautiful. My answer, not surprising for him, was that I could only really appreciate the full beauty of the ladies now kept in European captivity when they are released and freely return to their home countries; that for me beauty was more than the physical appearance. I need to see these persons in their social and cultural environment and to appreciate the respect and the veneration their people bring to them. Surely, their charisma can only be understood when they are with people who regard them as part of themselves and their history. I need to hear the songs of praise that the existence and the activities of these persons have generated. I know this is perhaps difficult for many Europeans who attach great importance to physical appearance and have no use for the spiritual attributes of such persons.
Europeans are very likely to measure the nose and other parts of the body as they do with prisoners. The ethnologists, especially the Germans were famous for that. African art objects are not simply objects to be admired but objects with a function and raison d'être. We are what we are not because of the length of our noses and the size of our heads but because of the circumstances of our birth, our function in society and our own achievements.
But the famous African queens are not the only African cultural objects illegally held in European collections. There are all the Benin bronzes, Akan gold, Nok terra cotta, various kotas from Central Africa, stools, statutes and various sculptures from the Akan, Baule, Chokwe, Dan, Dogon, Fang, Guro, Hamba, Senufu, various religious and other cultural objects, including precious artistic manuscripts from Magdala, Ethiopia. The Louvre, Quai Branly Museum, the Ethnology Museum, Berlin, the British Museum, the Ethnology Museum, Vienna and a whole lot of museums in the USA, Germany, Britain, France, Portugal, Holland and Spain have stolen African objects in their inventories. But how did these objects come all the way to Europe and why have they not been returned?
I. HOW DID THESE OBJECTS COME TO EUROPE?
Most of the African art objects now in European and American museums came there as a result of some illegality or some dubious means during slavery, the colonialism and our present neo-colonial times. Most of them have been seized either through the use of massive force or threat of use of force, bribery and intimidation or stealth.
DECEIT
A. EGYPTSo much cultural objects have been stolen or illegally transported from Egypt that one cannot hope to do justice to the issue here. We have chosen to consider very briefly the best known case of unjust possession by European museums of cultural objects from Africa: Nefertiti, the Egyptian Queen, whose famous bust is everywhere presented and for some, the very essence of beauty. The Germans, who have been illegally detaining the African queen in the Altes Museum, Berlin for almost hundred years, now claim that she is a German, a “Berlinerin.” But how did this Egyptian queen end up in a German museum?
On 6 December 1912, when Egypt was still under Turkish domination (1) a group of German archaeologists and Egyptian assistants, under the leadership of the German archaeologist, Professor Ludwig Borchardt, dug out what turned out to be the bust of the Egyptian queen, Nefertiti. The practice at that time was that when such findings were made, they were presented to a committee that decided what part was to remain Egypt and what part would go to the country of the archaeologist who made the discovery. The committee at this time was always presided over by a European; in this case a Frenchman and many of the members were Europeans. In this particular case, Borchardt, was also a member of the committee. According to Gert v. Pacezensky and Herbert Ganslmayr, Nofretete will nach Hause; Europa - Schatzhaus der “Dritten Welt”, (2)Borchardt covered the find with a layer of grime, in such a way that the member of the committee who made the evaluation of the found did not see properly the whole lot and thus was not aware of the importance of the find. It was decided to leave the socle on which the bust stood in Egypt and let Borchardt have the bust. From documents later available, it was clear that the professor realized how important the found was and was planning to take it to German. When the bust came to Germany in August 1913 it was kept secret for some ten years and not exhibited so as to avoid the Egyptians getting to know about it. Finally, in 1923, after a decade, the bust of Nefertiti was shown in a book by Borchardt “Porträts der Königin Nofretete”. After this publication, the Egyptians started demanding that the bust be sent back. But the Germans have refused to return the bust.
PUNITIVE EXPEDITIONS
A. BENIN The best known example is the case of the Benin bronzes. The British attacked Benin in 1897, under the pretext that some British officials had been ambushed by persons from Benin whilst they were on their way to hold discussions with the Oba of Benin. The king had told the British official who had requested to visit Benin that the time chosen was inappropriate since there would be a traditional festival - yam festival - and during that period no foreigner was allowed to visit Benin City and therefore was dangerous for a foreigner.
The British invaded Benin City with a massive force, captured the City, stole the art works that were in the king's palace including door panels. They executed many Benin leaders and burnt the city. They terrorized the area for some six months in search of the king, Obi Ovomramwen and when they caught him, they sent into exile where he died. The truth of the matter is that the British were determined to get rid of the Oba who refused to submit to British rule and who controlled the trade in the area.
The British kept many of the Benin art works and sold the rest to finance the so-called Punitive Expedition of 1897. The Austrians, Germans and Americans bought these Benin art works. Thus we have in many museums all over the world these illegally obtained art works. Anja Laukötter, gives the following distribution, following Luschan: of the 2400 objects that left Benin: 580 in Berlin, 280 in British Museum, 227 in Rushmore, the Pitt Rivers Collection, 196 in Hamburg, 182 in Dresden,167 in Vienna, 98 in Leiden, 87 in Leipzig, 80 in Stuttgart, 76 in Cologne, and 51 in Frankfurt am Main.(3)
The current Benin exhibition, Benin Kings and Rituals Court Arts from Nigeria, now in Berlin until May 25, 2008, gives a good idea of what was stolen and who the present illegal holders are. (4)
B. ASANTE Less well-known than the British Punitive Expedition to Benin in 1897, was the British Punitive Expedition of 1874 to Kumasi, Ghana. The British had been trying to gain control over the lucrative trade in gold, slaves in the then Gold Coast but had found in the Asantehene, Kofi Karkari, the king of the Asantes from the interior of the Gold Coast, a formidable competitor who controlled effectively trade along the coast. The Asantes were known for their gold and the Golden Stool which was said to embody the spirit of the Asante nation and not even the Asantehene was allowed to sit on.
With such deliberate provocations and other acts of challenge by the British to the political authority of the Asantehene, wars inevitably ensued and gave the British the pretext they had been seeking to attack. The Asantes had besieged the British Fort at Kumasi and kept the British there surrounded for some time in 1867. In 1874 a British Punitive Expedition Army, under Sir Garnet Wolseley entered Kumasi. The Asantehene had left Kumasi, the capital but the town and the palace were taken by Wolseley and his troops who ransacked all the valuable objects they could find including, the king's sword, hammered gold masks in the shape of a ram's head, massive breast plates, coral ornaments, silver plates, swords, ammunition belts, caps mounted in solid gold, knives set in gold and silver, bags of gold and gold nuggets, carved stools mounted in silver, and other treasures including a 20-centimetre-high golden head, the largest gold work from anywhere in Africa outside Egypt. The town of Kumasi and the palace were destroyed by burning. Continued
Europeans are very likely to measure the nose and other parts of the body as they do with prisoners. The ethnologists, especially the Germans were famous for that. African art objects are not simply objects to be admired but objects with a function and raison d'être. We are what we are not because of the length of our noses and the size of our heads but because of the circumstances of our birth, our function in society and our own achievements.
But the famous African queens are not the only African cultural objects illegally held in European collections. There are all the Benin bronzes, Akan gold, Nok terra cotta, various kotas from Central Africa, stools, statutes and various sculptures from the Akan, Baule, Chokwe, Dan, Dogon, Fang, Guro, Hamba, Senufu, various religious and other cultural objects, including precious artistic manuscripts from Magdala, Ethiopia. The Louvre, Quai Branly Museum, the Ethnology Museum, Berlin, the British Museum, the Ethnology Museum, Vienna and a whole lot of museums in the USA, Germany, Britain, France, Portugal, Holland and Spain have stolen African objects in their inventories. But how did these objects come all the way to Europe and why have they not been returned?
I. HOW DID THESE OBJECTS COME TO EUROPE?
Most of the African art objects now in European and American museums came there as a result of some illegality or some dubious means during slavery, the colonialism and our present neo-colonial times. Most of them have been seized either through the use of massive force or threat of use of force, bribery and intimidation or stealth.
DECEIT
A. EGYPTSo much cultural objects have been stolen or illegally transported from Egypt that one cannot hope to do justice to the issue here. We have chosen to consider very briefly the best known case of unjust possession by European museums of cultural objects from Africa: Nefertiti, the Egyptian Queen, whose famous bust is everywhere presented and for some, the very essence of beauty. The Germans, who have been illegally detaining the African queen in the Altes Museum, Berlin for almost hundred years, now claim that she is a German, a “Berlinerin.” But how did this Egyptian queen end up in a German museum?
On 6 December 1912, when Egypt was still under Turkish domination (1) a group of German archaeologists and Egyptian assistants, under the leadership of the German archaeologist, Professor Ludwig Borchardt, dug out what turned out to be the bust of the Egyptian queen, Nefertiti. The practice at that time was that when such findings were made, they were presented to a committee that decided what part was to remain Egypt and what part would go to the country of the archaeologist who made the discovery. The committee at this time was always presided over by a European; in this case a Frenchman and many of the members were Europeans. In this particular case, Borchardt, was also a member of the committee. According to Gert v. Pacezensky and Herbert Ganslmayr, Nofretete will nach Hause; Europa - Schatzhaus der “Dritten Welt”, (2)Borchardt covered the find with a layer of grime, in such a way that the member of the committee who made the evaluation of the found did not see properly the whole lot and thus was not aware of the importance of the find. It was decided to leave the socle on which the bust stood in Egypt and let Borchardt have the bust. From documents later available, it was clear that the professor realized how important the found was and was planning to take it to German. When the bust came to Germany in August 1913 it was kept secret for some ten years and not exhibited so as to avoid the Egyptians getting to know about it. Finally, in 1923, after a decade, the bust of Nefertiti was shown in a book by Borchardt “Porträts der Königin Nofretete”. After this publication, the Egyptians started demanding that the bust be sent back. But the Germans have refused to return the bust.
PUNITIVE EXPEDITIONS
A. BENIN The best known example is the case of the Benin bronzes. The British attacked Benin in 1897, under the pretext that some British officials had been ambushed by persons from Benin whilst they were on their way to hold discussions with the Oba of Benin. The king had told the British official who had requested to visit Benin that the time chosen was inappropriate since there would be a traditional festival - yam festival - and during that period no foreigner was allowed to visit Benin City and therefore was dangerous for a foreigner.
The British invaded Benin City with a massive force, captured the City, stole the art works that were in the king's palace including door panels. They executed many Benin leaders and burnt the city. They terrorized the area for some six months in search of the king, Obi Ovomramwen and when they caught him, they sent into exile where he died. The truth of the matter is that the British were determined to get rid of the Oba who refused to submit to British rule and who controlled the trade in the area.
The British kept many of the Benin art works and sold the rest to finance the so-called Punitive Expedition of 1897. The Austrians, Germans and Americans bought these Benin art works. Thus we have in many museums all over the world these illegally obtained art works. Anja Laukötter, gives the following distribution, following Luschan: of the 2400 objects that left Benin: 580 in Berlin, 280 in British Museum, 227 in Rushmore, the Pitt Rivers Collection, 196 in Hamburg, 182 in Dresden,167 in Vienna, 98 in Leiden, 87 in Leipzig, 80 in Stuttgart, 76 in Cologne, and 51 in Frankfurt am Main.(3)
The current Benin exhibition, Benin Kings and Rituals Court Arts from Nigeria, now in Berlin until May 25, 2008, gives a good idea of what was stolen and who the present illegal holders are. (4)
B. ASANTE Less well-known than the British Punitive Expedition to Benin in 1897, was the British Punitive Expedition of 1874 to Kumasi, Ghana. The British had been trying to gain control over the lucrative trade in gold, slaves in the then Gold Coast but had found in the Asantehene, Kofi Karkari, the king of the Asantes from the interior of the Gold Coast, a formidable competitor who controlled effectively trade along the coast. The Asantes were known for their gold and the Golden Stool which was said to embody the spirit of the Asante nation and not even the Asantehene was allowed to sit on.
With such deliberate provocations and other acts of challenge by the British to the political authority of the Asantehene, wars inevitably ensued and gave the British the pretext they had been seeking to attack. The Asantes had besieged the British Fort at Kumasi and kept the British there surrounded for some time in 1867. In 1874 a British Punitive Expedition Army, under Sir Garnet Wolseley entered Kumasi. The Asantehene had left Kumasi, the capital but the town and the palace were taken by Wolseley and his troops who ransacked all the valuable objects they could find including, the king's sword, hammered gold masks in the shape of a ram's head, massive breast plates, coral ornaments, silver plates, swords, ammunition belts, caps mounted in solid gold, knives set in gold and silver, bags of gold and gold nuggets, carved stools mounted in silver, and other treasures including a 20-centimetre-high golden head, the largest gold work from anywhere in Africa outside Egypt. The town of Kumasi and the palace were destroyed by burning. Continued
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Other Articles by Kwame Opoku, Dr.
DOES HISTORY SUFFER WHEN CULTURAL ARTEFACTS ARE RETURNED?DEMOCRATIZATION THROUGH VANDALISM: NEW ANSWER TO DEMANDS FOR RESTITUTION OF CULTURAL ARTEFACTS?REFLECTIONS ON THE CAIRO CONFERENCE ON RESTITUTION: ENCOURAGING BEGINNING BARBIER-MUELLER MUSEUM SIGNS AGREEMENT WITH TANZANIA TO RETURN STOLEN MAKONDE MASKILE-IFE TRIUMPHS IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM, LONDON: WHO SAID NIGERIANS WERE INCAPABLE OF LOOKING AFTER THEIR CULTURAL ARTEFACTS?
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