The University of Cambridge has transferred legal ownership of 116 Benin artefacts in the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology (MAA) collections to Nigeria’s National Commission for Museums and Monuments (NCMM), operating under a management agreement with the Benin Royal Palace.
The decision follows the formal request from the NCMM, made in 2022, for the return of artefacts taken by British armed forces during the sacking of Benin City in 1897.
The university said physical transfer of the majority of the artefacts will be arranged in due course.
Seventeen pieces will remain on loan and on display at the MAA, for three years in the first instance, to be accessible to museum visitors, students and researchers.
The MAA is one of several museums with significant holdings of material taken from Benin in 1897. The university said the museum has been involved in long-term research and engagement projects in partnership with Nigerian stakeholders and representatives from the Royal Court of the Benin kingdom, as well as artists, academics and students from Nigeria.
The museum’s curators have participated in study and liaison visits to Benin City since 2018.
Professor Nicholas Thomas, the museum’s director said “support has mounted, nationally and internationally, for the repatriation of artefacts that were appropriated in the context of colonial violence. This return has been keenly supported across the University community.”
Olugbile Holloway, director-general of Nigeria’s National Commission for Museums and Monuments, added:” …it is our hope that this will spur other museums to head in a similar direction.
The university said the return of cultural items “is not just the return of the physical object, but also the restoration of the pride and dignity that was lost when these objects were taken in the first place.”
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