After Divya Mehra uncovered the colonial history behind a misidentified 18th-century statue, the Mackenzie Art Gallery repatriated it and acquired Mehra’s work about the figure in its stead.
Tag: restitution
“Bad Beuys”: Artists “Steal” a Joseph Beuys as a Statement About Repatriation
How better to illustrate the inadequacy of current restitution efforts than to offer up as tribute an object by one of Germany’s most famous artists, who thought art could bring about transformative social change?
After Years of Repatriation Debates, France’s Benin Restitution Bill Approved
Meanwhile, a new report commissioned by the Dutch culture minister suggests the return of “any cultural objects looted in former Dutch colonies if the source country so requests.”
Activists Fined After Anti-colonial Protest at Quai Branly Museum
Four activists were fined for their live-streamed protest at the Paris museum, in which Mwazulu Diyabanza removed a 19th-century funerary post from its display.
A Bill Offers California’s Indigenous Tribes Ownership of Ancestral Objects
Also, a work by Paolo Uccello, sold in a Sotheby’s sale this July for $3.1 million, was revealed to be looted by Nazis.
Objects Returned to Benin by French Collectors Had Been Removed From a Contested Auction
The transaction illuminates the role individuals can play in rectifying Europe’s history of colonial plunder, but it also reveals the inner workings of a system that allows such objects to land in private hands to begin with.
Benin Receives $22.5 Million Loan From France for New Museum
The new museum will house the return of 26 cultural artifacts on long-term loan from France. The objects were originally seized by French troops from Benin in 1892.
Decolonize This Place Demands Repatriation of “Imperial Plunder” at the Brooklyn Museum
Parallel to today’s protest at the RISD Museum, organizers from Decolonize This Place gathered at the Brooklyn Museum to decry stolen objects in the Brooklyn Museum’s collection.
Protesters Request RISD Museum Return Bronze Sculpture to Nigeria
Students and faculty from the Rhode Island School of Design and Brown University held an action today to request a sculpture looted from the Kingdom of Benin be returned. The museum says they have begun conversations with the Nigerian government to return the bronze.
Understanding the Migrant Caravan in the Context of Imperial Plunder and Dispossession
The publication of Felwine Sarr and Benedicte Savoy’s report recommending the restitution of stolen African objects and the approach of what is called a “migrant caravan” toward the US is not a coincidence.
French President Wants to Return Benin’s Artifacts, But Will French Law Allow Him?
Emmanuel Macron’s decision is a gesture of goodwill, but these objects comprise just 0.5 percent of the objects requested for restitution by the West African country.
President of France Will Recommend Full Restitution of Looted African Works
The proposed guidelines would bristle the French art world, but they could also endear the French president to the African countries he’s trying to build stronger economic partnerships with.