Artefacts: Oba of Benin, others to attend Berlin Humboldt Forum arts exhibition

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The representatives of the Benin monarch, Omo N’Oba N’Edo Uku Akpolokpolo, Oba Ewuare II, and other visual arts collectors and enthusiasts are billed to attend the second opening of the Humboldt Forum in Berlin, Germany.

The Humboldt Forum, a museum of arts and culture will also play host to researchers across the globe at the exhibition

The museum houses non-European collections including thousands of artefacts looted from the palace of Benin Kingdom during the 1897 invasion of the kingdom known in history as the Benin Massacre of 1897, during which the then reigning Oba Ovonramwen Nogbaisis, was exiled to Calabar.

The artefacts, which have been at the centre of the disagreement between the Benin Palace and the Edo State Government led by Governor Godwin Obaseki as to who should take custody of the artworks proposed to be returned from the foreign museums will be on display at the celebration and commissioning of the last part of the opening of Humboldt Forum.

Tribune Online gathered that Oba Ewuare II e representatives at the exhibition would be led by his brother, His Royal Highness, Prince Aghatise Erediuwa.

According to the invitation letter made available to newsmen in Benin on the event and jointly endorsed by Professor Hartmut Dorgerloh, General Director, Humboldt and Professor Lars –Christian Koch, Director of Ethnological Museum, the exhibition is expected to take place on the 16th, September 2022, and it would also host friends, partners and colleagues

The delegation of the German ethnological museum led by Professor Koch in April 2022, interacted with the Benin monarch on the planned return and restitution of historic Benin artefacts.

Mr Solomon Okuduwa, who provided technical support, had led the German ethnologists to the historic Igun streets, where they also met with the association of Bronzes casters.

The Forum located in the heart of Berlin is a hub of exhibitions which attract researchers and art lovers and aims to be a cultural destination compared with the London museum.

The museum had announced plans to pursue conversations with Nigerian officials regarding the repatriation of the Benin Bronzes in its collections and pledged to repatriate Benin Bronzes in its collections.

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