Archive for the ‘Dr. Kwame Opoku writings about looted cultural objects’ Category
Sunday, May 12th, 2013
WHAT IS IN A NAME
http://www.museum-security.org/kwame_opoku/ethnology_museum_vienna_changes_name_to_world_museum.html
May 12, 2013
ETHNOLOGY MUSEUM, VIENNA CHANGES NAME TO WORLD MUSEUM, VIENNA: WHAT IS IN A NAME?
"What's in a name? That which we call a rose
by any other name would smell as sweet."
Shakespeare (1), Romeo and Juliet
Völkerkundemuseum, Vienna, now renamed World Museum, Vienna.
As has been reported in various ...
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Monday, May 6th, 2013
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Monday, March 11th, 2013
BENIN PLAN OF ACTION: WILL THIS MISERABLE DOCUMENT BE THE LAST WORD ON THE LOOTED BENIN ARTEFACTS
http://www.museum-security.org/BENIN_PLAN_OF_ACTION(2)_WILL_THIS_MISERABLE_PROJECT_BE_THE_LAST_WORD_ON_THE_LOOTED_BENIN_ARTEFACTS.htm
March 11, 2013
“BENIN PLAN OF ACTION” (2): WILL THIS MISERABLE PROJECT BE THE LAST WORD ON THE LOOTED BENIN ARTEFACTS?
"There was a dim grandeur about it all, and also
these seemed to a fate. Here ...
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Wednesday, February 27th, 2013
“BENIN PLAN OF ACTION” FOR RESTITUTION
http://www.museum-security.org/benin-plan-of-action-for-restitution.htm
February 27, 2013
“
BENIN PLAN OF ACTION FOR RESTITUTION
”:
WILL THIS ENSURE THE RETURN OF LOOTED BENIN ARTEFACTS?
“There are many ways to develop relationships besides returning museum objects. Informally, it also appears that the different kinds of collaboration that are currently in progress are important to Nigerian ...
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Friday, February 22nd, 2013
RESPECT AND DISRESPECT IN RESTITUTION OF CULTURAL ARTEFACTS
http://www.museum-security.org/opoku_respect_and_disrespect_in_restitution.htm
February 22, 2013
RESPECT AND DISRESPECT IN RESTITUTION OF CULTURAL ARTEFACTS
ÒCulture is the soul of a nation. The illicit removal or destruction of cultural property deprives peoples of their history and tradition. Restitution is the only means that can restore damage and reinstate a ...
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Tuesday, February 12th, 2013
WHAT WE UNDERSTAND BY “RESTITUTION”
"Short of giving details of the anticipated repossession of Nigerian artefacts from France, Usman insisted that diplomacy remained the "best and only option for now and we would change our strategy if it’s not working."
Is Nigeria's approach to restitution of cultural artefacts really working?
We are all ...
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Tuesday, January 15th, 2013
Nigeria - Arts of the Benue River Valley
http://www.museum-security.org/opoku_nigeria-benue-valley.htm
January 15, 2013
Nigeria - Arts of the Benue River Valley
Arts de la valle de la Bnou Nigeria
We have just received an excellent catalogue of the exhibition, Arts de la valle de la Bnou Nigeria (Nigeria - Arts of the Benue River Valley) which is taking ...
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Sunday, January 6th, 2013
WILL BOSTON MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS RETURN LOOTED BENIN BRONZES
http://www.museum-security.org/opoku_boston_return.htm
January 6, 2013
The public interest must surely be in upholding the rule of law, rather than promoting an international free-for-all through the unrestricted circulation of tainted works of art. Do we really wish to educate our children to have no respect ...
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Wednesday, November 21st, 2012
VIRTUAL VISIT TO MUSEUMS HOLDING LOOTED BENIN OBJECTS
http://www.museum-security.org/opoku_benin_virtual_museum.htm
November 21, 2012
VIRTUAL VISITS TO MUSEUMS HOLDING LOOTED BENIN OBJECTS
Head of an Oba, Benin, Nigeria, now in Bristol Museum, Bristol, United Kingdom of Great Britain.
One of the remarkable arguments presented by holders of looted Benin artefacts is that in our modern world, with ...
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Wednesday, November 21st, 2012
HAS MEXICO RENOUNCED HER CLAIM TO MONTEZUMAS FEATHER CROWN THAT IS IN THE VIENNA ETHNOLOGY MUSEUM?
http://www.museum-security.org/opoku_montezuma.htm
November 21, 2012
HAS MEXICO RENOUNCED HER CLAIM TO MONTEZUMAS FEATHER CROWN IN THE VIENNA ETHNOLOGY MUSEUM?
President Vicente Fox asked the visiting Austrian president, Heinz Fischer, for his help in returning the headdress of the Aztec ...
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Sunday, October 14th, 2012
NIGERIA MUST TELL HOLDERS OF LOOTED ART THAT THE GAME IS OVER
http://www.museum-security.org/opoku_nigeria_game_is_over.htm
October 14, 2012
NIGERIA MUST TELL HOLDERS OF LOOTED ARTEFACTS THAT THE GAME IS OVER
On this day of first October, 2012, anniversary of Nigerias independence, I am reading an article by Tajudeen Sowole, in The Guardian titled Ahead of 2013 show of ...
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Monday, September 17th, 2012
NIGERIAN TERRACOTTA SEIZED BY US IMMIGRATION IS NOT HOMELESS
http://www.museum-security.org/opoku_nigerian_terracotta.htm
September 17, 2012
LOOTED NIGERIAN TERRACOTTA RETURNED BY US IMMIGRATION ARE NOT HOMELESS OR ORPHANS
Nok sculptures returned by American officials to the Nigerian Consul-General in New York on July 27, 2012.
On reading reports that the National Commission for Museums and Monuments (NCMM)) has ...
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Sunday, July 29th, 2012
Ancient Statues Smuggled from Nigeria to Return Home
http://www.museum-security.org/Opoku_illegal_export_NOK.htm
July 29, 2012
SHALL WE EVER KNOW THE TRUTH ABOUT ILLEGAL EXPORT OF NOK SCULPTURES FROM NIGERIA?
It is indeed unfortunate that so much Nok material has been looted over time to supply the international market. Properly excavated, such pieces might have shed valuable light ...
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Thursday, July 19th, 2012
NIGERIA REACTS TO DONATION OF LOOTED BENIN ARTEFACTS TO MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS, BOSTON
http://www.museum-security.org/opoku_nigeria_benin.htm
July 19, 2012
NIGERIA REACTS TO DONATION OF LOOTED BENIN ARTEFACTS TO MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS, BOSTON.
“The exhibition is showcasing some of the works that made Benin (Nigeria) famous. It once again, reminds the world of a civilization ...
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Sunday, May 27th, 2012
DO THEY KNOW QUEEN-MOTHER IDIA
http://www.museum-security.org/opoku_queen_mother_idia.htm
May 27, 2012
Queen-Mother Idia, Benin, Nigeria, now in British Museum, London, United Kingdom.
A recent visit to the British Museum confirmed what we have observed in previous years: many Western visitors to the museum have no specific interest in any particular Benin object, even if they visit ...
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Tuesday, May 1st, 2012
It would be interesting to see whether the issue of the legality of the possession/control of the Nok artefacts would be raised in the course of this case
http://www.museum-security.org/opoku_damaged_nok.htm
May 1, 2012
DAMAGE TO NOK SCULPTURE IN PRIVATE WESTERN COLLECTION. WILL OTHER AFRICAN ARTEFACTS END IN THIS WAY?
(Photos from New York Daily News)
It has been ...
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Saturday, April 14th, 2012
CULTURAL NATIONALISTS ARE ALL ON THE OTHER SIDE
http://www.museum-security.org/opoku_cultural_nationalists.htm
April 15, 2012
THE CULTURAL NATIONALISTS ARE ALL ON THE OTHER SIDE
We read with great interest the article by Andrew Finkel which appeared in the New York Times of 11th April, 2012 under the titleTreasures Hunters and reproduced in Elginism under the title Turkey’s requests for the Samsat Stele ...
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Wednesday, March 28th, 2012
ANOTHER AUCTION OF AFRICAN ARTEFACTS BY
http://www.museum-security.org/opoku_dorotheum_march2012.htm
March 28, 2012
ANOTHER AUCTION OF AFRICAN ARTEFACTS BY
VIENNA AUCTION HOUSE, DOROTHEUM: BETTER PROVENANCES?
Memorial Head, Benin, Nigeria. , Austrian Collection
The artefacts in this second auction raise the same problems as the first. The provenance given is often extremely vague e.g. from the “collection of a German ...
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Friday, March 23rd, 2012
MacGregors New Defence for Illegal Detention of Artefacts of Others
http://www.museum-security.org/opoku_macgregor1.htm
March 25, 2012
Travelling Exhibition as Alternative to Restitution? Comments on Suggestion by Director of the British Museum.
The Director of the British Museum has indeed a fertile mind that never tires of inventing new defences for the retention of looted artefacts of ...
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Sunday, March 11th, 2012
TURKISH DECISION NOT TO LOAN ARTIFACTS TO MUSEUMS WITH WHICH IT HAS DISPUTES OVER
http://www.museum-security.org/opoku_turkey_march2012.htm
March 11, 2012
TURKISH DECISION TO STOP ARTEFACTS LOANS TO MUSEUMS HOLDING CONTESTED TURKISH ARTEFACTS: AN EXAMPLE FOR OTHER STATES?
The decision by the Turkish Government to stop loans of artefacts to museums
with which it has disputes regarding artefacts has ...
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Thursday, February 16th, 2012
Review of Cunos Museums Matter
http://www.museum-security.org/opoku-cuno.htm
Februray 16, 2012
AFFIRMATIONS AND DECLARATIONS: REVIEW OF JAMES CUNOS MUSEUMS MATTER.
Enlightenment philosophy was instrumental in codifying and institutionalizing both the scientific and popular European perceptions of the human race. The numerous writings on race by Hume, Kant and Hegel played a strong role in articulating Europe's sense ...
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Friday, January 27th, 2012
BRITISH MUSEUM DIRECTOR PLAYING THE USUAL GAME BUT THIS TIME WITH INDIA.
“In Africa, South-East Asia and South Asia, the pattern of exploration, colonization, tribute, and then the punitive removal of treasures was repeated, with the result that many African and Asian nations were deprived often of the central core of ...
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Saturday, December 17th, 2011
NOK ONCE MORE
http://www.museum-security.org/opoku_nok.htm
December 17, 2011
NOK ONCE MORE
It is indeed unfortunate that so much Nok material has been looted over time to supply the international market. Properly excavated, such pieces might have shed valuable light on the Nok culture. Ekpo Eyo (1)
Nok figure of a seated male with crossed arms, to ...
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Sunday, November 20th, 2011
In connection with the recent return to Namibia of 20 skulls of Namibians that were taken to Germany during the German colonial rule in South -West Africa, now Namibia, Nahas Angula, Prime Minister of Namibia is reported to have declared at the airport, as follows: "The Namibian nation accepts these mortal remains ...
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Monday, August 29th, 2011
HORNIMAN MUSEUM AND THE RESTITUTION OF BENIN BRONZES
http://www.museum-security.org/opoku_horniman.htm
August 29, 2011
LOOTED NIGERIAN BENIN BRONZES IN HORNIMAN MUSEUM, LONDON.
The exhibition is showcasing some of the works that made Benin (Nigeria) famous. It once again, reminds the world of a civilization truncated by the imperial forces of the colonialist. The works on show at ...
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Friday, July 15th, 2011
museum-security.orghttp://www.museum-security.org/opoku_nok_july2011.htm
FRANCO-NIGERIAN AGREEMENT ON LOOTED/STOLEN NOK SCULPTURE
REVISITING LOOTED NIGERIAN NOK TERRACOTTA SCULPTURES IN LOUVRE / MUSÉE DU QUAI BRANLY, PARIS
“His attitude is dishonourable. I regret that Nigeria was weak enough to accept to sign an agreement in order to give an appearance of legality to this acquisition. But above all, the fault ...
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Sunday, June 19th, 2011
Mali, now at Musée du quai Branly, Paris, France.
There is no doubt that the current exhibition at the Musée du Quai Branly, entitled, “Dogon” is the most comprehensive and definitely one of the best exhibitions on the well-known culture of the Dogon, Mali. The exhibits are all so impressive that one ...
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Monday, May 2nd, 2011
museum-security.orghttp://www.museum-security.org/opoku_dorotheum.htm
AUCTION OF AFRICAN ART BY DOROTHEUM, VIENNA: BUT WHAT ARE THE PROVENANCES OF THE ARTEFACTS
http://www.museum-security.org/opoku_dorotheum.htm
AUCTION OF AFRICAN ART BY DOROTHEUM, VIENNA: BUT WHAT ARE THE PROVENANCES OF THE ARTEFACTS?
Mask. Guro. Cte dIvoire
Dorotheum, an auction house in Vienna, Austria has announced for 3 May, 2011, an auction of African art ...
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Thursday, April 14th, 2011
In an article entitled "European treatment harms African works?" in the Art Newspaper, (issue no.223. http://www.theartnewspaper.com) Martin Bailey reports that: “African art specialists are questioning the recent conservation of Ife sculptures in Madrid in preparation for an international touring exhibition. They are concerned that Spanish conservators applied an inappropriate coating ...
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Monday, April 4th, 2011
read full text with images: HAWASS REBOUNCES.
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Thursday, March 24th, 2011
Images of recent disturbances from Tahir Square, Cairo, in January and February 2011, will make anybody who intends to send anything, including cultural artefacts, to Egypt, very hesitant. Also, the looting of artefacts from the Egyptian Museum, Cairo and elsewhere in Egypt makes those interested in the preservation of cultural ...
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Sunday, March 13th, 2011
Throne of Oba Eresoyen, Benin, Nigeria, now in Ethnologisches Museum, Berlin, Germany.
At the height of the protest organized by the Nigeria Liberty Forum against a proposed auction of a Queen-Mother Idia hip-mask by the Galway family at Sotheby’s in December 2010, it was reported that the Nigerian government was in discussions ...
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Saturday, February 5th, 2011
read full formatted text including images: http://www.museum-security.org/opoku_benin_picton.pdf
Queen-Mother Idia, Benin, Nigeria. Hip-mask that Galway’s descendants attempted to auction at Sotheby’s but had to be withdrawn because of protests by Nigerians.
I read with interest and sometimes, with astonishment the article by Professor John Picton, Emeritus Professor, School of Oriental ...
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Saturday, January 29th, 2011
The latest argument for detaining Nefertiti is clear evidence that the holders of the cultural property of others have no valid reason for depriving them of their cultural symbols.
It is established that there is no requirement in Municipal or International law that owners of stolen/looted objects or objects acquired ...
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Thursday, January 27th, 2011
Penacho de Moctezuma, the Quetzal-feather crown of Montezuma, the last Aztec Emperor, in the Völkerkundemuseum, Vienna. Austria.
According to information in the Austrian papers Standard, Kurier, and Kronen Zeitung, Austria seems finally willing to return the Montezuma Crown which Mexico has been claiming for decades without ...
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Sunday, January 16th, 2011
For many of us, the name Ekpo Eyo has come to stand for excellence and erudition. The first Director-General of the Nigerian Commission for Museums and Monuments, has produced several articles and books of the highest quality on Nigerian art, and his recent book, From Shrines to Showcases: Masterpieces of ...
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Friday, January 7th, 2011
Dr. Kwame Opoku Comments on:
Greece states (or does it not?) that it will drop ownership claims on Parthenon Marbles
CAN ONE CONTINUE FOREVER OFFERING WEAK AND BASELESS ARGUMENTS?
“At issue, however, is not only the legality of the purchase but the precedent any return would set for museums around the ...
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Wednesday, January 5th, 2011
“Gold gleams throughout the Ashanti story: one wonders in retrospect whether the punitive expedition would have been quite so dedicated if the major product of Ashanti had been anything else but the potent lure.” Russell Chamberlin. (1)
Gold mask, 20 cm in height, weighing 1.36 kg..of pure gold, seized by the ...
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Sunday, January 2nd, 2011
“The men and women of these countries have the right to recover these
cultural assets which are part of their being”. (Amadou-Mahtar M’Bow,
Former Director-General of UNESCO).
read full text and view images at:
http://www.museum-security.org/opoku_idia_mask_sale_cancellation.htm
The cancellation notice of the auction of Queen-Mother Idia mask on 4
December by Sotheby’s could not have been shorter:
“The Benin ...
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Thursday, December 23rd, 2010
Various media, including the Art Newspaper www.theartnewspaper.com, and the Financial Times http://www.ft.com/cms have reported that Sotheby’s, the auction house in London, will be auctioning a re-discovered masterpiece of Benin art, the ivory pendant of Queen-Mother Idia, on 17th February 2011 and other Benin artefacts from the Edo people. The pendant ...
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