The National Museum of African Art will mark its 60th anniversary with a special exhibition featuring nine Benin Bronzes from the royal court of Benin. These artworks, originally taken during the 1897 British raid on Benin City, have been officially returned to Nigeria. The exhibition opens on Monday, June 3.
The exhibit will showcase rare 15th-century copper alloy trophy heads, architectural plaques, figural sculptures, ivory tusks, and also a figure of a queen mother’s attendant.
Initially, the museum’s collection included 39 Benin artworks, of which 29 were identified as stolen during the 1897 raid. Ownership was transferred to Nigeria in October 2022, with a loan agreement allowing the artworks to remain in Washington, D.C.
Each artifact also includes a credit line acknowledging its origin from the “collection of the Oba of Benin, British raid of Benin 1897. Also are details from the community of origin.
John K. Lapiana, interim director, said, “Sixty years ago, the U.S. Civil Rights Movement inspired the founding of the National Museum of African Art by diplomat and collector Warren Robbins. Now, we present this exhibition in collaboration with Nigerian colleagues.”
The Kingdom of Benin is renowned for its royal arts in copper, ivory, terracotta, wood, iron, and coral beads. Most of which were looted during the 1897 raid. The museum is dedicated to Africa’s arts, with a collection spanning 13,000 artworks over 1,000 years.
The Smithsonian’s National Museum of African Art is solely dedicated to the collection, conservation, study, and exhibition of Africa’s arts across time and media. Its collection spans over 13,000 artworks from more than 1,000 years of African history.
