The Brutish Museums: the Benin Bronzes, colonial violence and cultural restitution

Title

The Brutish Museums: the Benin Bronzes, colonial violence and cultural restitution

Creator

Dan Hicks

Publisher

Pluto Press

Date

2021

Description

Few artifacts embody this history of rapacious and extractive colonialism better than the Benin Bronzes--a collection of thousands of metal plaques and sculptures depicting the history of the Royal Court of the Obas of Benin City, Nigeria. Pillaged during a British naval attack in 1897, the loot was passed on to Queen Victoria, the British Museum, and countless private collections.
The Brutish Museums sits at the heart of a heated debate about cultural restitution, repatriation, and the decolonization of museums. Since its first publication, museums across the western world have begun to return their Bronzes to Nigeria, heralding a new era in the way we understand the objects of empire we once took for granted.

Source

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