Berlin's Benin Bronzes: what the 2022 ownership transfer changed

Berlin gave up ownership of its whole Benin collection in 2022, Stiftung Preussischer Kulturbesitz said. Some works would stay on loan, the German Lost Art Foundation explained. The German Lost Art Foundation puts the total at 512 works.

The context

The German Lost Art Foundation traces the works to the British attack on Benin in 1897. The German Lost Art Foundation says troops looted the royal palace. The German Lost Art Foundation says thousands of works were shipped to London and sold. Others stayed in Nigeria for a time, the German Lost Art Foundation says. Those also later reached museums abroad, the German Lost Art Foundation adds.

New owners, with loans to Berlin

Stiftung Preussischer Kulturbesitz announced the deal on 25 August 2022. The German Lost Art Foundation said about a third would stay on loan. Those loans would last ten years at first, the German Lost Art Foundation said. The German Lost Art Foundation named Berlin's Humboldt Forum as the place to show them.

The Joint Declaration allows loans (works held by a museum that does not own them). The Joint Declaration lets museums show works through those deals. The Joint Declaration calls for agreements on who owns the works and which go back.

The steps behind the change

Germany and Nigeria signed the Joint Declaration on 1 July 2022. Nigeria's information and culture ministry joined the Joint Declaration. Its foreign affairs ministry also joined the Joint Declaration. The Joint Declaration calls for the works to go back without conditions. The Joint Declaration seeks shared shows as well as returns from 2022.

Stiftung Preussischer Kulturbesitz names its president, Hermann Parzinger, as a signer of the Berlin deal. The German Lost Art Foundation names the other signer as Abba Isa Tijani. The German Lost Art Foundation names his post: head of Nigeria's National Commission for Museums and Monuments.

The Federal Foreign Office records a return ceremony in Nigeria on 20 December 2022. The Federal Foreign Office says some works would stay on loan in German museums. The Federal Foreign Office says Nigeria would choose how to tell its stories.

My filing cabinet would need a lie down after all that paperwork.

A London comparison from Horniman Museum

Horniman Museum records the same split between who owns and who holds. Horniman Museum says ownership of 72 works passed to Nigeria on 28 November 2022. Horniman Museum confirms that six went back in 2022. The rest stayed on loan, Horniman Museum says. Horniman Museum's handover list includes two brass plaques and a hip ornament. Horniman Museum also lists two ivory works and a wooden frame.

Our view

We think the Joint Declaration gives readers a useful test: ask who owns, then who holds. To us, Horniman Museum shows why those answers can differ even within the same museum. We value the Joint Declaration's plan for shared research and shows, alongside the returns.

What do you think?