The Consul-General of the Kingdom of Netherlands in Lagos, Michel Deelen has said that the Benin Bronzes stand as powerful symbols of Nigeria’s rich artistic and cultural heritage, and can serve as ambassadors of African history wherever they are displayed.
He made these comments while speaking on the significance of these artefacts during an interview with ARISE NEWS on Wednesday.
He said, “These bronzes can be like ambassadors for Nigeria, for the African continent, wherever they are on display, to show the quality, the capacity, the beauty of the art that was made in Nigeria.
“So the Benin bronzes, among many of Nigeria’s great artworks from the past and also the present, of course, are so beautiful that they should be shown everywhere, I think, as an example of Nigerian, of African art from those days, whereby we can get rid of that strange misconception that there was no history in Africa or there was no proof or none written. The first university was in Africa. We know.”
His remarks come as the Netherlands prepares to return 119 Benin Bronzes to Nigeria following a request from the Nigerian government. The official transfer agreements were signed on Tuesday by the Dutch Minister of Education, Culture, and Science alongside the Director General of the National Commission for Museums and Monuments (NCMM). The artefacts are expected to arrive in Nigeria later this year.
During the interview, Deelen also addressed common perceptions regarding the financial benefits of displaying such artworks in European museums. While major institutions like the Rijksmuseum and Van Gogh Museum generate significant tourism revenue, he explained that most museums housing African artefacts operate under government subsidies.
“So I know that people always have the impression that you make a lot of money with museums. You actually make a lot of money more with the infrastructure around it, with the tourists that come, with the tourists that stay in hotels around it, the tourists that spend money in the museum shop, but to run a museum by itself costs a lot of money. So it’s not like we became rich in the Netherlands because we had the Benin bronzes on display.”
On the broader issue of restitution, Deelen acknowledged that the Benin Bronzes were taken unjustly but favoured collaboration over reparation.
“But on the other hand, of course, you know, the time has passed and there should be a form of compensation or let’s say a form of collaboration. Reparation? Well, I would more go for the collaboration side of it because you can’t repair what happened. What happened was that the objects were stolen.
“They were not in Benin for more than a hundred years. That’s something you can’t really repair. What we can work on and what we are going to work on is to work together with Nigerian public and private museums in, you know, the way of running, managing, training museum staff and also in making sure that there are people in Nigeria who do this provenance research themselves.
“So it’s more as from here on we will continue together in the quest for improving museums and improving the access basically to these works.”
The return of the Benin Bronzes is seen as a step toward a stronger partnership between the Netherlands and Nigeria, with both countries committed to preserving and promoting African cultural heritage for future generations.
