Liberal Forum

Finders keepers, bitches. These criminals should be shot.

Why Are Plundered African Artifacts Still in Western Museums? (msn.com)

In the spring of 2022, two men slipped into the British Museum and headed for the basement. They were dressed in black, wearing hockey masks and carrying nylon bags. Though some unnerved patrons alerted security guards, nothing could really be done. When the men reached the windowless gallery that houses some of the world’s most famous collections of African art, they set about methodically stealing the treasures, one by one. They left through the front doors in broad daylight and emerged into the courtyard triumphant and untouched.
The targets of the operation were the famed Benin Bronzes, a group of sculptures that for centuries adorned the royal palace in the Kingdom of Benin, now located in present-day Nigeria. In 1897, British forces invaded the capital and massacred hundreds of Africans, exiled their leader, bagged everything that looked valuable, then razed the city, including the palace. The masterpieces they transported back to London included thousands of commemorative heads cast in brass, brass plaques, and intricately carved ivory sculptures. These were sacred records of the sovereignty, politics, and history of the Benin kingdom. The officers sold off or gave away many of the pieces upon their return home; these relics are today scattered globally across roughly 150 museums and galleries and some unknown number of private collections. A chunk remain in Britain.The British Museum is perhaps the world’s largest beneficiary of stolen art. The case was simple: If someone robs something from you and you choose to take it back, does it really constitute a crime?The heist was the work of Chidirim Nwaubani and Ahmed Abokor, two men who lead Looty, a collective of activists engaged in the restitution of plundered artifacts.
“I see Looty as a way of challenging the colonial hypocrisy of these criminal institutions,” said Nwaubani. "We won't stop until ALL of our cultural artifacts are returned. These colonizers will pay if they get in our way."