Secretary of State for Culture Andrea Mayer (Greens) has now decided. The Scientific Director of the Weltmuseum Wien, Jonathan Fine, will chair the meeting. The results and recommendations should be available in spring 2023.
World Museum: 180 Benin objects
This takes into account an international discussion about objects from former colonies that were acquired in contexts of injustice and violence. Last year, French and German museums returned bronze works from the palace of the then Kingdom of Benin, which now belongs to Nigeria, or announced their intention to do so. Without the major Benin exhibition in 2007 at the Weltmuseum Wien, which involved Nigerian partners and led to the founding of the Benin Dialogue Group, this discussion would probably not have got off the ground, Fine said.
The Weltmuseum Wien also has around 180 Benin objects that were acquired on the art market after the British looted in 1897. The fact that a commission is being set up in this country while objects are already being restituted elsewhere is “not a delaying tactic,” said Fine. It is about developing a systematic approach.
Source: Nachrichten
