Africa Update Vol. XXVIII. Issue 3. Summer 2021
Editorial
This
issue of Africa Update is a tribute to the indefatigable
Ghanaian scholar-activist, Dr. Kwame Opoku, who has spent decades
enlightening the public, and the academic community, about the innumerable
African Antiquities confiscated by the colonial powers, after their invasions of
Africa in the 19th and 20th century.
Dr. Opoku has written more than two hundred and seventy articles on the
subject, to date.
Dr.
Opoku continues to give us specific details on the location of these artifacts,
and what should be done to recover them. His presentations at high profile
international conferences, and his careful documentation of individual and
generic misappropriated items, continue to stir the conscience of diverse
peoples across the globe who recognize the injustice done to Africa during the
colonial era. In addition to significant losses of population as a result
of colonial invasions during the European expansionist rampage of 1884 and
after, significant loss of treasure occurred.
This
issue of Africa Update includes six of the numerous
articles that Dr. Opoku has written, on the issue, including his commentary on
the recent decision by Germany to repatriate some Benin bronzes, originally
looted by the British and then sold by the latter to German museums. Special
thanks go to www.modernghana.com for permitting the publication of these articles.
Ciku
Kimeria, in an article entitled “The battle to get Europe to return thousand of
Africa’s stolen artifacts is getting complicated,” comments on the plunder of
over a thousand pieces of cultural artifacts by the French, during the capture
of the city of Oussebougou that brought down the Toucouleur Empire in 1890
(QZ.com/Africa/1758619). In that issue we are also reminded that at least
seventy thousand African artifacts are lodged in the Musee du Quai, in France;
one hundred and eighty thousand African artifacts, in the Royal Museum of
Central Africa in Belgium; seventy-five thousand African artifacts in the
Humboldt Forum Germany; and sixty-nine thousand African artifacts in the
British Museum. Most of these artifacts were plundered or obtained
suspiciously. In the case of Ethiopia, ancient manuscripts are scattered among
hundreds of museums. Many were seized by the British at the Battle of Magdala,
1868. Dr. Kwame Opoku’s passionate quest for the repatriation of stolen
artifacts has been driven by his informed awareness of the past and present.
Africa Update thanks Dr. Kwame Opoku for his
illuminating analyses and intellectual contributions to the discourse on looted
African artifacts.
Professor Gloria Emeagwali
Chief Editor, Africa Update
Table of Contents
African Treasures - Kwame Opoku's Quest for Justice
Kwame Opoku: Berlin decision on Benin restitution
Kwame Opoku: Church of England wishes to return two Benin artefacts to Nigeria. Is that enough?
Kwame Opoku: Is the British Museum outmaneuvering Nigeria?
Kwame Opoku: Talking about Benin Artifacts is not Enough
Kwame Opoku: Benin
Kwame Opoku: From Restitution to Digitalization: Looted Benin treasures to go online
