AUTHOR: KWAME OPOKU, DR.

Anthropomorphic statue, King Ghzo, Dahomey, Republic of Benin. This is one of the Royal Dahomeyan statues that the French looted in 1832 and kept in France until restitution to the Republic of Benin on 10th November 2021.

Restitution Day: Remembrance And Reckoning

Nov 10, 2023 | Feature Article

As we stated in last year 39;s Restitution Day message, 39;On every Restitution Day,10 November, we shall take sto ...

Queen mother Idia, Benin, Nigeria, now in Humboldt Forum, Berlin, Germany.

Germany Leading Crusade For Restitution Of Looted African Artefacts?

Sep 28, 2023 | Feature Article

We were very surprised to read the following from a leading Nigerian newspaper reporting on a speech made by a German en ...

Crown of Tewodros, Ethiopia, now in Victoria and Albert Museum, London, United Kingdom, looted during the invasion of Magdala in 1868 by a British Punitive Expedition army.

Will Museums Be The Last Bastions Of Western Imperialism And Racism?

Sep 19, 2023 | Feature Article

39;The looting of Benin City and Maqdala were British crimes then and now: it should be a matter of national shame ...

Oba Esigie and attendants triumphant return from the Idah war, Benin, Nigeria, now in the British Museum, London, United Kingdom.

Can We Trust The British Museum With Our Cultural Treasures?

Sep 7, 2023 | Feature Article

When I first saw the British Museum some decades ago, I was impressed, not to say overwhelmed, by the massive concrete s ...

Oba and four attendants, Benin, Nigeria, previously in Ethnology Museum, Berlin, ownership transferred to Nigeria on 25 August 2022.

Debate on returned artefacts in Nigeria

Jun 5, 2023 | Feature Article

There have been intense debates recently in Nigeria on the question of the ownership and custody of returned looted arte ...

The Oba Of Benin Owns The Benin Bronzes

May 24, 2023 | Feature Article

One of the first things we learn about the Benin bronzes is that they were made for the Oba of Benin by a guild of b ...

British To Loan Looted Asante Gold Artefacts To Asante/Ghana?

May 21, 2023 | Feature Article

ldquo;Gold gleams throughout the Ashanti story: one wonders in retrospect whether the punitive expedition would have ...

Djenne female figure, Mali, now in Muse du quai Branly-Jacques Chirac, Paris, France.

Does The Martinez Report Constitute A Pre-Announced Burial Of African Cultural A...

May 14, 2023 | Feature Article

39;our research methods resemble the interrogations of an investigating magistrate much more than amicable conversa ...

Gelede mask, Yoruba, Nigeria, now in Muse du Quai Branly-Jacques Chirac, Paris, France.

Does Affirmation Of The Rights Of The Oba In Benin Artefacts Confuse Some Wester...

May 2, 2023 | Feature Article

Readers will recall that in a previous article, I mentioned the recent Declaration of the Nigerian Federal Government th ...

Court dwarfs, Benin, Nigeria, now in World Museum, Vienna, Austria. Would they ever come home to Benin City, Nigeria?

Are Western Museums Entitled To Loans Of African Artefacts After Reluctant ‘part...

Apr 17, 2023 | Feature Article

lsquo; rsquo;Did the thieves acknowledge that they stole these objects, and that by stealing these objects they kill ...

Parthenon Marbles, Athens, Greece, now in British Museum, London, United Kingdom.

New Study Advises British Government and British Museum not to Restitute Parthen...

Apr 6, 2023 | Feature Article

Readers know that the British Government and the British Museum are very reluctant to discuss issues of restitution and ...

Gold mask, 20 cm in height, weighing 1.36 kg. of pure gold, seized by the British from Kumase, Ghana, in 1874 and now in the Wallace Collection, London, United Kingdom.

Reclaiming Looted Asante Gold (Ghana): Triumph Of Morality Over Brutality?

Jan 19, 2023 | Feature Article

ldquo;The town burnt furiously, all these three days of rain failing in any way to impede the progress of the devour ...

Pair of leopard figures, now in Her Majesty Collection, the Queen of the United Kingdom, Admiral Rawson Collection., London, UK. The commanders of the British Punitive Expedition force to Benin in 1897 sent the pair of leopards to the British Queen soon after the looting and burning of Benin City.

Even The Big Elephant In Bloomsbury Must Defend Itself: British Museum Reacts To...

Dec 7, 2022 | Feature Article

39;The looting of Benin City and Maqdala were British war crimes then and now: it should be a matter of national sh ...

Anthropomorphic statue, King Ghzo, Dahomey, Republic of Benin

Restitution Day: Remembrance And Reckoning

Nov 7, 2022 | Feature Article

lsquo;The return of a work of art or record to the country which created it enables a people to recover part of ...

Mandu yenu , throne of King Njoya, Bamoun, Cameroon Pwo Mask, Chokwe, Angola Female founding dynastic ancestor Ngonso, Ngonso kingdom, Cameroon - all now in Humboldt Forum, Berlin, Germany.

Germany Must Surrender All Ownership Rights To Colonial Artefacts

Sep 17, 2022 | Feature Article

We publish below a press release from Postkolonial Berlin urging Germany to surrender all ownership rights to coloni ...

Gold mask, 20 cm in height, weighing 1.36 kg. of pure gold, seized by the British from Kumasi, Ghana, in 1874 and now in the Wallace Collection, London, United Kingdom.

Will The New Guidelines Of The Arts Council England Help Restitution Of Looted A...

Sep 15, 2022 | Feature Article

It does not matter (although many museums pretend it does) that the first of several Hague conventions was not pr ...

Kwame Opoku, Dr.

Former Legal Adviser, United Nations Office, Vienna.

Dr. Kwame Opoku writes about looted cultural objects