Alumni Project | Connecting Restitution Histories and African World Festivals

In 1972, Nigerian archaeologist and head of Nigeria’s Federal Department of Antiquities, Ekpo Eyo sent a circular to several European embassies requesting “some” permanent loans of Benin Bronzes but even such a “modest loan request,” as write Benedicte Savoy in her latest book Africa’s Struggle for Its Art: History of a Postcolonial Defeat, “sparked panic among officials who feared a radical emptying of Western museums”.

Team

Naima Hassan, Billy Fowo

Objective and description

In 1972, Nigerian archaeologist and head of Nigeria’s Federal Department of Antiquities, Ekpo Eyo sent a circular to several European embassies requesting “some” permanent loans of Benin Bronzes but even such a “modest loan request,” as write Benedicte Savoy in her latest book Africa’s Struggle for Its Art: History of a Postcolonial Defeat, “sparked panic among officials who feared a radical emptying of Western museums”. With the recent restitution of twenty Benin bronzes by the German government to Nigeria, one might be tempted to think of restitution as contingent on the intervention of European governments and formal claims made by nation-states. However, against a backdrop of hard-fought independence, governments along with cultural activists, artists, and initiatives also formulated claims to Western museums, but their demands with the exception of a very few cases were unsuccessful and at times unanswered: In 1977 during FESTAC 77 held in Lagos, Nigeria requested to showcase the Queen Idia mask, an ivory pendant from the 16th century, kept in the British Museum, but this demand was declined as the mask was described as being “too fragile to travel”. In an article titled “Le Cameroun, Microcosme de la Négritude. Préparatifs au Premier Festival de Dakar”1, the author suggests, “…our sculptures were to get to Dakar in two different but complementary ways!” The UNESCO officials were to return a group of Cameroonian objects from the British museums, museums in Berlin, Stuttgart, and museums in the US among which Bamileke and Bamoun masks. There are scarce public projects that have examined the combined histories of FESMAN 66 / FESTAC 77, two major Arts festivals organised on the African continent, that brought together thinkers from the African world at large and expanding the understanding of the African world and arts in general. There is clear evidence that conversations on restitution were happening around that time and were on the agenda in both festivals. The documentary “Les statues meurent aussi” at FESMAN 66 (documentary that won a prize at the festival) evidences that restitution has always been on the agenda, and both festivals served as a ground for common reflection and action. We aim to produce a multimedia study that maps these claims and their outcomes through collections research undertaken in archives and libraries in Dakar and Lagos.

We are interested in activating the unlocked potential of African publications to act as historical resources for museums and archives in Europe and aim to foster a new readership for these publications. Wide-scale efforts to digitalise these collections to ensure their long-term preservation against climate degradation are crucial, however, in the short term we aim to contribute to this effort by researching and mapping publications highly relevant to African cultural heritage restitution and its long history.

Implementation

Following the first phase of the project, a hybrid convening held at G.A.S. Foundation in Lagos invited a comparative reading of the festivals. Departing from the period described by Okwui Enwezor as the ‘Short Century’ (1945-1994) the event ‘Reading along the borders of Festac '77 and FESMAN’ connected anglophone and francophone festival literature, cultural practitioners, and artists. The event began with a bilingual reading of Alma Robinson’s African

Art in Foreign Hands, in Festac’77, and Le Cameroun au Festival Mondial des Arts Negres published in Abbia Journal in 1966. An archival display of the Black Orpheus Journal, from the Picton Collection Archive added an archival dimension to the discussion.

A research finissage presentation was organised in November 2023 by Naima Hassan (‘22) and Billy Fowo (’22), which included a visual narration of their encounters in Lagos, Ibadan, Dakar and Goree Island. The presentation featured respondents Maryam Kazeem (iranti press), Rufus Nwoko (New Culture Studio), Dr Olatunde Barber (University of Lagos) and a Q&A.

In 2024, the project will be incubated through a publication orientated working group initiated by Naima, Billy and Maryam Kazeem at G.A.S. Foundation, which will result in a participatory and experimental publication.


This project was funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) through the Goethe-Institut.