Episode 32: The Benin Bronzes, Part II

• Hicks, Dan. The Brutish Museums: The Benin Bronzes, Colonial Violence and Cultural Restitution. London: Pluto Press, 2021.
• Jenkins, Tiffany. Keeping Their Marbles: How the Treasures of the Past Ended Up in Museums—and Why They Should Stay There. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018.
• Phillips, Barnaby. Loot: Britain and the Benin Bronzes. London: Oneworld Publications, 2021.

Essays/Articles:

• Bakare, Lanre. “Bronze cockerel to be returned to Nigeria by Cambridge college.” The Guardian, November 27, 2019.
• Cuno, James. “Culture War: The Case Against Repatriating Museum Artifacts. Foreign Affairs 93, no. 6 (November/December 2014): 119-124, 126-129.
• Edvardsson Björnberg, Karin. “Historic Injustice and the Moral Case for Cultural Repatriation.” Ethical Theory and Moral Practice 18, no. 3 (June 2015): 461-474.
• Greenberger, Alex. “The Benin Bronzes, Explained: Why a Group of Plundered Artworks Continues to Generate Controversy.” ARTNews, April 2, 2021.
• Hickley, Catherine. “Nigeria seeks to calm tensions over return of Benin bronzes.” The Art Newspaper, January 7, 2022.
• Jenkins, Tiffany. “From objects of enlightenment to objects of apology: why you can’t make amends for the past by plundering the present.” In Dethroning historical reputations: universities, museums and the commemoration of benefactors, edited by Jill Pellew and Lawrence Goldman, 81-92. London: University of London Press, 2018.
• Khomami, Nadia. “Cambridge college to be first in UK to return looted Benin Bronze.” The Guardian, October 15, 2021.
• Marshall, Alex. “This Art Was Looted 123 Years Ago. Will It Ever Be Returned?” The New York Times, January 23, 2020.
• Okediji, Moyo. “On Reparations: Exodus and Embodiment.” African Arts 31, no. 2 (special issue – Spring, 1998): 8-10.
• The British Museum Blog. “Major new archaeology project on site of new museum in Benin.” November 13, 2020.
• Wills, Matthew. “The Benin Bronzes and the Cultural History of Museums.” JSTOR Daily, May 22, 2021.
• Wysocki Gunsch, Kathryn. “Art and/or Ethnographica?: The Reception of Benin Works from 1897-1935.” African Arts 46, no. 4 (Winter 2013): 22-31.

Additional materials:

• The British Museum Official Website – Benin Bronzes
• Pitt Rivers Museum – The Benin Bronzes
• Adjaye Associates – Edo Museum of West African Art (EMOWAA)
• Vox – “The British Museum is full of stolen objects” (Youtube video)
• James Acaster – “On the Absurdity of The British Empire” (comedy routine)
• DW Documentary – “Africa’s Looted Art” (documentary)
• “Blood Art” – podcast episode on the Benin Bronzes from Stuff the British Stole podcast