Event: Benin Royal Art and Questions of Restitution

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Please submit your questions in advance of the webinar via email to:
hnadworny@support.ucla.edu by Wednesday, November 10 at 12:00 p.m.

About the program: Dr. Ezeluoma will discuss the restitution of Benin cultural patrimony. In 1897, the British government acted on a request from the Royal Niger Company to remove the Benin Oba (king), who was seen as an obstacle to trade. A British force of about twelve hundred men supported by several hundred African auxiliaries besieged Benin City. The raid (British Punitive Expedition), as the colonial force was called, bombarded the city and looted five hundred years’ worth of bronze, brass and ivory sculptures. This was a national treasure that constituted the royal archive of Benin's history. Oba Ovonramwen (ruled 1888-1914) was deposed and sent to die in exile and the Benin kingdom was incorporated into the colonial nation of Nigeria. Conversation on the repatriation of this cultural patrimony rages on today. Dr. Ezeluona will point to current progress and speak to the important role American cultural institutions are playing in the process.