UK to return looted royal regalia to Ghana in loan deal (updated)
25/01/2024 15:24
(Adds comments from professor at University of Ghana,
paragraphs 3 & 17)
LONDON, Jan 25 (Reuters) - Britain is returning a
selection of Ghanaian gold regalia looted from an Asante king in
the 19th century, in a historic loan deal set out on Thursday.
Some 32 objects, including a gold peace pipe and a sword of
state from London's British Museum and Victoria & Albert Museum,
will be loaned to the Manhyia Palace Museum in the Ghanaian city
of Kumasi, 150 years after they were stolen, the museums said.
"These are more than artefacts; they are the items that
connect us to our history, our past and help us to understand
who we are, how we're relevant and relate to the world and one
other," Obadele Kambon, an associate professor at the University
of Ghana, told Reuters.
The museums also acknowledged the "cultural, historical and
spiritual significance" of the objects to the Asante people.
"They are also indelibly linked to British colonial history
in West Africa, with many of them looted from Kumasi during the
Anglo-Asante wars of the 19th century," they said in a
statement.
Britain is at the centre of an impassioned debate over the
repatriation of priceless objects appropriated in colonial
times. Nigeria and Ethiopia are among a number of countries
seeking repatriation of looted artefacts.
However, some museums say they are banned by law from
permanently returning contested items in their collections.
A dispute over the Parthenon sculptures, housed at the
British Museum, escalated last year when Britain's Prime
Minister Rishi Sunak cancelled a meeting with Greek premier
Kyriakos Mitsotakis in a row over discussing their status.
Greece has repeatedly called on the museum to return the
2,500-year-old sculptures that British diplomat Lord Elgin
removed from the Parthenon temple in the early 19th century.
The museum's trustees have said they would consider a loan
to Greece if Athens acknowledges its ownership of the
sculptures, which Greek governments have refused in the past.
'STILL A BATTLE TO FIGHT'
The partnership with the Ghanaian museum comes after Asante
King Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, known as the Asantehene, visited
London last May to attend the coronation of King Charles.
He met the leaders of the London museums, opening
discussions which were followed by months of negotiations over
the potential return of Ghana's "crown jewels".
The gold peace pipe and gold discs worn by officials
responsible for cleansing the soul of the king are among 17
items V&A plans to lend to the Ghanaian museum.
Objects selected from the British Museum consist mostly of
royal regalia looted from the palace in Kumasi during the
Anglo-Asante wars.
The items will be loaned under two separate three-year
agreements and are due to form part of an exhibition planned for
the Ghanaian king's silver jubilee celebration later this year.
"This (return) is monumental but there is a long way to
go ... There's still a battle to fight and that is a battle for
the true and proper restoration of our dignity and of all the
things stolen, not loaned back to us," Kambon said.
(Reporting by Muvija M in London
Additional reporting by Maxwell Akalaare Adombila in Accra
Editing by Ros Russell)
((Muvija.M@thomsonreuters.com; within the UK: +44 7776813338,
outside the UK: +91 80 61822698; Twitter: https://twitter.com/muvija_m;))