Oba Akenzua II's Restitution Requests
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Benin Kingdom • Year 5
BENIN KINGDOM REACH OUT YEAR 5 name: class: Knowledge Organiser • Benin Kingdom • Year 5 Vocabulary Oba A king, or chief. Timeline of Events Ogisos The first kings of Benin. Ogisos means 900 CE Lots of villages join together and make a “Rulers of the Sky”. kingdom known as Igodomigodo, ruled by Empire lots of countries or states, all ruled by the Ogiso. one monarch or single state. c. 900- A huge earthen moat was constructed Guild A group of people who all do the 1460 CE around the kingdom, stretching 16.000 km same job, usually a craft. long. Animism A religion widely followed in Benin. 1180 CE The Oba royal family take over from the Voodoo The belief that non-human objects Osigo, and begin to rule the kingdom. (or Vodun) have spirits or souls. They are treated like Gods. Cowrie shells A sea shell which Europeans used as 1440 CE Benin expands its territory under the rule of Oba Ewuare the Great. a kind of money to trade with African leaders. 1470 CE Oba Ewuare renames the kingdom as Civil war A war between people who live in the Edo, with it;s main city known as Ubinu (Benin in Portuguese). same country. Moat A long trench dug around an area to 1485 CE The Portuguese visit Edo and Ubinu. keep invaders out. 1514 CE Oba Esigie sets up trading links with the Colonisation When invaders take over control of a Portuguese, and other European visitors. country by force, and live among the 1700 CE A series of civil wars within Benin lead to people. -
Barbara Blackmun Collection, EEPA 2016-012
Barbara Blackmun Collection, EEPA 2016-012 Eden Orelove October 2018 Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives, National Museum of African Art National Museum of African Art P.O. Box 37012 MRC 708 Washington, DC 20013-7012 [email protected] http://africa.si.edu/collection/eliot-elisofon-photographic-archives/ Table of Contents Collection Overview ........................................................................................................ 1 Administrative Information .............................................................................................. 1 Biographical / Historical.................................................................................................... 1 Arrangement..................................................................................................................... 2 Scope and Contents........................................................................................................ 2 Names and Subjects ...................................................................................................... 2 Container Listing ............................................................................................................. 4 Series 1: Museum Objects, 1979-1994.................................................................... 4 Series 2: People, circa 1969-1994......................................................................... 71 Series 3: Ceremonies and Festivals, circa 1969-1994........................................... 89 Series 4: Landscape and Street -
The New Encyclopedia of Benin
Barbara Plankensteiner. Benin: Kings and Rituals. Gent: Snoeck, 2007. 535 pp. $85.00, cloth, ISBN 978-90-5349-626-8. Reviewed by Kate Ezra Published on H-AfrArts (December, 2008) Commissioned by Jean M. Borgatti (Clark Univeristy) The exhibition "Benin Kings and Rituals: This section of the catalog features 301 ob‐ Court Arts from Nigeria," organized by Barbara jects discussed in 205 entries by 19 authors. The Plankensteiner, is an extraordinary opportunity objects, all illustrated in full color, are drawn to see hundreds of masterworks of Benin art to‐ from twenty-five museums in Europe, the United gether in one place. It will be on view at the Art States, and Nigeria, and also include several Institute of Chicago, its only American venue, works privately owned by Oba Erediauwa and from July 10 to September 21, 2008. The colossal High Priest Osemwegie Ebohen of Benin City. exhibition catalog provides a permanent record Most of the international team of authors who of this remarkable exhibition and will soon be‐ wrote the catalog entries are renowned Benin come the essential reference work on Benin art, scholars; the others are Africanists who serve as culture, and history. The frst half of the book curators of collections that lent objects to the exhi‐ Benin Kings and Rituals: Court Arts from Nigeria, bition. A full half of the entries were written by edited by Barbara Plankensteiner, consists of Barbara Blackmun (forty-nine) , Kathy Curnow twenty-two essays by a world-class roster of schol‐ (twenty-six), Paula Ben-Amos Girshick (fourteen), ars on a broad range of topics and themes related and Joseph Nevadomsky (thirteen). -
Die Rückgabeforderung Des Oba Akenzua II
KUNST&KONTEXT 1/2017 FÄLSCHUNG - KOPIE - VERFÄLSCHUNG - ALTERUNG 23 Die Rückgabeforderung des Oba Akenzua II einen sehr frühen und komplexen Fall aus dem Jahr 1935 nachvollziehbar machen. Es handelt sich um zwei Thron- Hocker aus dem Königreich Benin, die bei der Eroberung durch eine englische Strafexpedition im Jahr 1897 als Teil der Kriegsbeute das Land verließen (Abb. 3). Die beiden Bronze-Hocker (Abb. 1, 2) haben ähnliche Maße und einen fast gleichen Auf bau: Sockel und Sitzfläche sind leicht gerundet und durch stilisierte Schlangen verbun- den. Einige Motive finden sich auf beiden Hockern, z. B. ein Frosch und ein grimassierendes Gesicht; allerdings ist der eine (Abb. 1) reicher ornamentiert. Die Schlangen- körper im zentralen Bereich sind mit Schuppen darge- stellt und die Symbole (als Relief oder Gravur) befinden sich auf den Unter- und Oberseiten der Sitzflächen und der Sockel. Irwin Tunis hat 1981 in seiner Studie zu den beiden Objekten deren Material, ihre Herkunft und die Ikonographie ausführlich beschrieben. Außerdem hat Otto Werner 1970 in einem Artikel seine Analyseergebnisse der Legierung der beiden Thron-Hocker (sowie 152 weiterer Benin-Bronze) publiziert. Oba Akenzua II und Lord Plymouth Abb. 1: Thron-Hocker dem Oba Eresoyen (ca. 1735-1750) zugeschrieben, Inv.-Nr. III C 20295 (Höhe 40 cm, Ø 40,5 cm) Die ersten Dokumente im Archiv (April 1935) beziehen sich Restitutionsforderungen werden derzeit häufig in Ver- auf eine Begegnung im Februar 1935, als Lord Plymouth, anstaltungen und Veröffentlichungen ethnologischer damals „Under Secretary of State for the Colonies“ wäh- Museen diskutiert. Auch wenn diese Diskussionen in rend einer Dienstreise durch das englische Kolonialgebiet einigen Fällen zu Kooperationsprojekten führen, bleibt im Süden Nigerias das Königreich Benin besuchte. -
Igue Festival and the British Invasion of Benin 1897: the Violation of a People’S Culture and Sovereignty
Vol. 6(1), pp. 1-5, March, 2014 DOI: 10.5897/AJHC2013.0170 African Journal of History and Culture ISSN 2141-6672 Copyright © 2014 Author(s) retain the copyright of this article http://www.academicjournals.org/AJHC Full Length Research Paper Igue festival and the British invasion of Benin 1897: The violation of a people’s culture and sovereignty Charles .O. Osarumwense Department of History and International Studies, University of Benin, Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria. Accepted 18 December, 2013 The Benin Kingdom was a sovereign state in pre-colonial West Africa. Sovereign in the sense that the Kingdom conducted and coordinated its internal and external affairs with its well structured political, social-cultural and economic institutions. One remarkable aspect of the Benin culture was the Igue festival. The festival was unique in the sense that it was a period when the Oba embarks on spiritual cleansing and prayers to departed ancestors for continued protection and growth of the land. The period of the festival was uncompromising and was spiritually adhered to. It was during this period that the British attempted to visit the Oba. This attempted visit to the land was declined by the Oba. An imposition of the visit by the British Crown resulted in the ambushed and killing of British officers. This incident marked the road map to the British invasion of the Kingdom in 1897. This study presents the sovereign nature of the Benin Kingdom, its social-cultural and economic uniqueness rooted in the belief and respect of deities. The paper further argues that the event of 1897 was a clear cut violation of the sovereignty, culture and territorial rights of the Benin Kingdom under a crooked agreement called the Gallwey Treaty of 1892. -
APPENDICES These Historic Documents Which Are Also Found in Peju Layiwola, Benin 1897.Com, Art and the Restitution Question, 2010,( Wy Art Editions, P.O
APPENDICES These historic documents which are also found in Peju Layiwola, Benin 1897.com, Art and the Restitution Question, 2010,( Wy Art Editions, P.O. Box 19324, University Post Office, Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria. www.benin 1897.com) enable the reader to follow closely the reasoning behind the positions of the parties involved in the debate on the restitution of the Benin Bronzes. APPENDIX I List of holders of the Benin Bronzes Almost every Western museum has some Benin objects. Here is a short list of where the Benin Bronzes are to be found and their numbers. Various catalogues of exhibitions on Benin art or African art also list the private collections of the Benin Bronzes. The museums refuse to inform the public about the number of Benin artefacts they have and do not display permanently the Benin artefacts in their possession since they do not have enough space. Some museums have their section on Benin or African artefacts closed for years for repair works or other reason. 1. Berlin – Ethnologisches Museum 580. 2. Chicago – Art Institute of Chicago 20, Field Museum 400. 3. Cologne – Rautenstrauch-Joest-Museum 73. 4. Glasgow _ Kelvingrove and St, Mungo’s Museum of Religious Life 22 5. Hamburg – Museum für Völkerkunde, Museum fur Kunst und Gewerbe 196. 6. Dresden – Staatliches Museum für Völkerkunde 182. 7. Leipzig – Museum für Völkerkunde 87. 8. Leiden – Rijksmuseum voor Volkenkunde 98. 9. London – British Museum 900. 10. New York – Metropolitan Museum of Fine Art 163. 11. Oxford – Pitt-Rivers Museum/ Pitt-Rivers country residence, Rushmore in Farnham/Dorset 327. -
Oba Ovonramwen (1888 - 1914 CE)
Oba Ovonramwen (1888 - 1914 CE). Oba Ovonramwen Nogbaisi was on the throne during the British invasion of Benin City in 1897. To prepare the grounds before the invasion, the British first sneaked military spies into Benin, to infiltrate the nation´s security system during the Igue festival, a period of acute spiritual sensitivity for Edo people, when their monarch goes into seclusion for two weeks for spiritual cleansing and cannot receive visitors. The spies were eliminated for their hostile acts. The British then sent a delegation to Benin in March 1892. The delegation was led by Capt. Henry L. Gallwey, the Vice Consul for the Benin River District of the Niger Coast Protectorate, supposedly to conclude a Treaty of Protection with Oba Ovonramwen of Benin. The British had deceived King Dosumu of Lagos to sign a similar treaty that ceded Lagos to the British in 1861. They forced the same kind of treaty on the Jaja of Opopo in 1887 to gain access and economic control of the eastern coast of Nigeria. Quoting Capt. Henry Gallwey, who after retirement became Sir Henry Gallwey, in a report on the 1892 visit to Benin, for the Journal of the African Society of April 1930, under the title: Nigeria in the (Eighteen) Nineties, he wrote in part: Any idea I may have had of being received by the king the day I arrived was very soon dispelled. After being kept waiting for three days, I sent word to say that I could wait no longer. To support my threat, every half-hour, I sent a carrier away with a load I did not require, telling them where to wait for me. -
The Changing Phases of Power and Civil Administration in Benin Empire Before Colonialism
Journal of Global Initiatives: Policy, Pedagogy, Perspective Volume 3 | Number 1 Article 5 June 2010 The hC anging Phases of Power and Civil Administration in Benin Empire Before Colonialism Victor Osaro Edo University of Ibadan, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/jgi Part of the African History Commons This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License. Recommended Citation Edo, Victor Osaro (2010) "The hC anging Phases of Power and Civil Administration in Benin Empire Before Colonialism," Journal of Global Initiatives: Policy, Pedagogy, Perspective: Vol. 3 : No. 1 , Article 5. Available at: https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/jgi/vol3/iss1/5 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by DigitalCommons@Kennesaw State University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Journal of Global Initiatives: Policy, Pedagogy, Perspective by an authorized editor of DigitalCommons@Kennesaw State University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Journal for Global Initiatives 3(1) (2007). pp. 79-86 The Changing Phases of Power and Civil Administration in Benin Empire Before Colonialism Victor Osaro Edo The paper examines the structure, nature and character of governance and civil administration in Pre-colonial Benin up to the period of its loss of independence to British colonial administration. It analyses the processes of change in Benin from the era of the Ogisos through the period of the republican administration to the establishment of monarchical system of government. Benin'shistoryfrom theearliesttimestothebeginning ofcolonial rule was dynamic and witnessed monumental changes in the structure and character of the empire. -
Title the Benin Kingdom
CORE Metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk Provided by Kyoto University Research Information Repository The Benin Kingdom: Rituals of Kinship and Their Social Title Meanings(1) Author(s) NEVADOMSKY, Joseph Citation African Study Monographs (1993), 14(2): 65-77 Issue Date 1993-08 URL http://dx.doi.org/10.14989/68107 Right Type Departmental Bulletin Paper Textversion publisher Kyoto University African Study Monographs. 14(2): 65 -77. August 1993 65 THE BENIN KINGDOM: RITUALS OF KINGSHIP AND THEIR SOCIAL MEANINGS(l) Joseph NEVADOMSKY Department ofAfrican Languages and Literature, University of Zimbabwe ABSTRACT Rituals of kingship in some parts of Nigeria represent the main social reality for many people, providing meaning amidst clashing and ineffectual ideologies, and promis ing security in a politicallY unstable time. In the Benin kingdom the Oba's power is less than in centuries past. but the ideas underling kingship persist, through myth and ritual, as a general cognitive model. By exploring the meanings of Benin kingship rituals and the contemporary contexts of royal ceremonies this paper shows how court performances and other legitimating icons such as cement statuary give the Bini a sense of stability by tying them into a larger imagined tradition of greatness. Key Words: Ritual; Kingship; West Africa. INTRODUCTION Few of us recognize the importance of ritual. In Western utilitarian societies. ritual is thought to be associated with the sacred, a domain peripheral to the func tioning of a secular, rational state. There is the further assumption that ritual is valid only for what Claude Levi-Strauss called "cold" societies, "the societies that anthropologists study...that remain indefinitely in their initial state...static societies with no history" (cited in Leach, 1990: 3). -
UK Rejection of Restitution of Artefacts: Confirmation Or Surprise?
25.05.2019 FEATURE ARTICLE UK Rejection Of Restitution Of Artefacts: Confirmation Or Surprise? By Kwame Opoku, Dr. ‘’Truth must be repeated constantly, because error is being repeatedly preached round about all the few, but by the masses. In the periodicals and encyclopaedias, in schools and universities, everywhe confident and comfortable in the feeling that it has the majority on its side.” Johann Wolfgang von G The United Kingdom Secretary for Culture is reported as having declared: “ Never mind the argume thing, let’s argue about how it gets to be seen ”. (2) Mr. Jeremy Wright whose pronouncements on o caused surprise made this statement in response to The Times with respect to the debate on restitutio The Minister argued that if artefacts were returned to their countries of origin, there would be no on see multiple objects:‘ if you followed the logic of restitution to its logical conclusion ,according to W ‘no single points where people can see multiple things’ Wright also stated that the United Kingdom Crown of Tewodros II, looted laws to enable restitution of cultural artefacts to the various countries. at Maqdala, Ethiopia in 1868, now in Victoria and Albert Museum, London, United Kingdom. ‘His argument seemed to rely on the tired misconception that there would be nothing much left in our museums and “no single points wher things” if restitution was allowed. This kind of thinking flies in the face of the informed conversation about decolonisation, restitution and repatriation that is taking place in at government level in many countries in Europe. ‘(3) What Jeremy Wright is attempting to do is to revive the long discredited universal museum argument that artefacts of different cultures are understood when they are all gathered at one museum such as the British Museum. -
AFRREV IJAH, Vol.1 (3) July, 2012
AFRREV IJAH, Vol.1 (3) August, 2012 AFRREV IJAH An International Journal of Arts and Humanities Bahir Dar, Ethiopia Vol. 1 (3), August, 2012:246-257 ISSN: 2225-8590 (Print) ISSN 2227-5452 (Online) Gone but Not Forgotten: The Commemorative Arts of Benin Ebeigbe, Sweet Ufumwen, Ph.D. Senior Lecturer/ Head of Department Department of Fine/Applied Art, University of Benin Abstract This essay focuses on how the people of Benin (Nigeria) use their traditional art to formally memorialize major historical events and the life and deeds of notable citizens in their society, especially their Kings (Oba). For this purpose, they evolve diverse enigmatic symbols and artforms in sundry media and styles. In this essay, an effort is made to examine some of these artforms and the symbols used as embellishment on them, in order to determine the context in which they are utilized and how they perform their function. In the process of doing this, the stylistic and iconographic significance of the artforms and symbols are also expounded. 246 Copyright © IAARR 2012: www.afrrevjo.net AFRREV IJAH, Vol.1 (3) August, 2012 Introduction This essay focuses on the commemorative function of the art of the people of Benin (Nigeria). It demonstrates how the Benins use their traditional art to formally memorialize major events that mark their history and the life and deeds of noble citizens in their society, especially their monarchs. For this purpose, they evolve enigmatic symbols and diverse artforms in varied media. In this essay, an effort is made to examine some of these artforms and symbols in order to determine the context in which they are utilized and how they perform their commemorative function. -
Kingdom of Benin Benin Was an Influential City-State in Northwest
1 Kingdom of Benin Benin was an influential city-state in northwest Africa generally from the 15th to 17th century. It was founded by the Edo or Bini people in the 13thcentury, and by the early 14th century a royal court was in place. It was always ruled by a powerful king who was usually a former war leader. The kings, however, later became a more religious figure. The kingdom has been though to extend throughout what is presently southern Nigeria. One of its most successful kings was Ozoula. During his reign, from about1480 to 1504, Benin established many commercial and diplomatic relations with Portugal. The kingdom participated in a lot of trade with Europe. Some of the goods they traded included palm oil, ivory, pepper, and textiles. Another industry Benin took place in was the slave trade. Mostly POW's (prisoners of war)and women were traded, but in the early years, men of the tribe were also given away. Gradually, the power of the kingdom decreased as the 18th and 19th centuries passed. Eventually, in 1897, the area was annexed to British Nigeria. While tribesmen still led the area, the real control was in the hands of the Europeans. One of the richest arts that originated in Africa are some of the hand cast bronzes that came out of the kingdom of Benin. These became known as the Benin Bronzes. The casting of brass was strictly a royal art and anyone found casting brass without royal permission was faced with execution. Whenever a king or a major figure died, a beautiful commemorative head was cast out of bronze in his honor.