It's a Continent

Repatriating African Artefacts

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Episode notes

90-95% of Africa’s cultural heritage is held overseas, with Benin Bronzes languishing in museum basements all over the world for around 125 years. the British Museum containing over 73,000 items from the continent alone. Asante Royal artefacts sit at the V&A, Met Museum and Royal Family. Germany possesses the skulls of Tanzanian chiefs, upsetting the local community and natural order. We discuss how these items were taken forcefully by colonial agency, and how African countries are calling for the return of their treasures.

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Sources:

The story of Nigeria's stolen Benin Bronzes, and the London museum returning them

Stealing Africa: How Britain looted the continent’s art

Germany DNA study links colonial skulls to living relatives

Tanzanians demand return of ancestral skulls

The Tanzanians searching for their grandfathers' skulls in Germany

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