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  • Updated: April 04, 2021

Irish Museum To Return Edo Artifact To Nigeria

Irish Museum To Return Edo Artifact To Nigeria

A museum in Limerick, Ireland is set to return a 'looted' sculpture to Nigeria amid growing talks of restitution.

The artifact is made up of ivory and lead and is a leopard's head in ceremonial costume attachment from the royal court of Benin. It is presently housed in the Hunt Museum in Limerick.

According to the Irish Examiner, CEO and Director of the Hunt Museum, Jill Collins, disclosed that the museum is in the process of establishing what the steps are for the compensation for the loss of the item.

However, the situation is more complex due to the object in question not being the property of the Hunt Museum, but on loan to it from another party, whom the museum did not name.

The Hunt Museum in LimerickThe Hunt Museum in Limerick

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Cousins said, "I think the moral imperative for this one is particularly important. It's become heavier under the Black Lives Matter movement. I really think it's part of the colonial history that needs redressing in some way."

The need to return the artifact is stronger than ever as Benin City, the capital of Edo State is poised to host a new Benin Royal Museum.

The item was legally brought to an art auction in the 1970s. The owner, prior to that, is not entirely known, Cousins revealed. She stated that the historical significance of the object and the death toll add to the need to have it returned to its home country, Nigeria.

"We've had conversations in the museum itself and we believe in particular, for this item, we should certainly be looking into it and see what is feasible to do.

"When you obtain something in this way, it does seem a particularly nasty consequence of it", she put in.

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