MARKK MUSEUM A TOUR OF BENIN : LOOTED HISTORY by Diana Perry Schnelle Vice President
On September 21 , a group of us took a guided tour at the MARKK museum . Holly Todd arranged for an American researcher at the museum to give an English tour of the ongoing exhibition Benin : Looted History . The exhibition brings together MARKK ’ s entire collection of artworks from the Kingdom of Benin ( in present-day Nigeria ), which primarily features works of bronze , wood , and ivory . These artworks were looted in 1897 during the British colonial occupation of Benin City , and the works were then quickly dispersed throughout the world . Many of these looted artworks passed through Hamburg ’ s port , where local museums , such as MARKK and the MK & G , had the opportunity to buy them . MARKK is exhibiting its whole collection one last time so that people have a chance to see these incredible works of art before they are restituted to Nigeria .
In addition to focusing on the incredible techniques and artistry of the works on display , Benin : Looted History does an excellent job of providing the historical context for European colonial occupation of this part of West Africa , using animated videos in addition to traditional documentary sources . The exhibition also focuses on the highly political and decades-old question of whether European nations and the United States should return these stolen artworks to Africa . Since the complicated legal negotiations and logistical arrangements around the restitution process are still ongoing , the end-date of the exhibition is unclear — which means the exhibition could be up for a few more months . MARKK itself has played a key role in this larger conversation about restitution , as the museum ’ s director , Dr . Barbara Plankensteiner , has been at the forefront of international committees engaged in returning the so-called Benin Bronzes to Nigeria .
Germany returned its first sculptures in July of this year , following France ’ s return of Benin artworks in 2021 . And just last month , on November 28 , the Horniman Museum in London became the first public museum in the UK to restitute bronzes from Benin to Nigeria ’ s National Commission for Museums and Monuments . This historical move draws greater attention to other British museums that have so far resisted these calls , most notably the British Museum .
After our AWCH tour , some of us stayed to hear a lecture from British curator and scholar Dan Hicks , who is a professor of Contemporary Archaeology at Oxford and curator of World Archaeology at Oxford ’ s Pitt Rivers Museum . In his talk and a subsequent discussion with Dr . Plankensteiner , Hicks argued the case for institutions to reassess how they collect , display , and hoard the treasures in their care . While I get the sense the talk wasn ’ t everyone ’ s cup of tea , I found it extremely interesting — as was the exhibition and the insightful tour our group was fortunate to have .
In addition to the Benin bronzes , the exhibit included other works inspired by or relating to colonialism .
Photo by Holly Todd