Janet Suzman wrote to the Horniman Museum to congratulate Nick Merriman and his team for returning 72 Benin Bronzes.
Yesterday, Monday 28 November saw the start of a new chapter in the history of the Benin bronzes in South East London too, and was celebrated by many.
These cultural artefacts were looted from West Africa by British soldiers in 1897. London’s Horniman museum consulted its public, a wide range of people from museum members, and school children to the Nigerian community, and then announced this summer that it would be returning its Benin Bronzes. London’s Horniman museum signed over 72 of the bronzes yesterday and Janet Suzman wrote to the museum to say how elated the BCRPM was with this act of respect for the bronzes.
The news story was covered by many outlets including Channerl 4 News. It was good to hear Nick Merriman, Director of the Horniman reflecting on the ease with which school children reacted immediately to the fairness of retuning the bronzes. And to also hear Ngaire Blankenberg, director of the Smithsonian's National Museum of African Art, explain that there is more to embrace than returning these objects, that we need to look at power imbalances and everything that we do, as museums and institutions develop more collaborative relationships.
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