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Boston Globe
03-05-2025
- Politics
- Boston Globe
Plundered artworks to go from the MFA to who knows where
Advertisement We applaud collector Robert Owen Lehman's decision to rescind his donation of pieces he'd pledged to Boston's Museum of Fine Arts. No morally conscious person would enrich the heirs of slave traders with profits of human suffering. The Benin bronzes celebrate practices that persist today: Edo state remains a hub of Get The Gavel A weekly SCOTUS explainer newsletter by columnist Kimberly Atkins Stohr. Enter Email Sign Up Nigeria already holds hundreds of bronzes, according to the We need the bronzes for cultural education, metallurgy study, and DNA research linking us to trafficked ancestors. Returning them unconditionally to Nigeria would rob the world of opportunities for healing and justice. They must be entrusted to the descendants of the enslaved, not gifted to the heirs of the slave traders. Advertisement Rather than retraumatizing Afrodescendants through this harmful double standard, the MFA could help usher in repair from three centuries of transatlantic slavery and a century of colonialism by facilitating joint stewardship. They belong to all of us. Deadria Farmer-Paellmann Founder and executive director Restitution Study Group New York MFA, collector Lehman should not delay in righting wrong, returning artworks I read with interest and horror about the Museum of Fine Arts' meek, legalistic response to wealthy donor Robert Owen Lehman's decision to break their agreement to transfer ownership of looted Benin Kingdom national treasures to the museum ( Many other museums are returning the artifacts heisted by colonial Britain. Why doesn't the MFA show its moral fiber by returning its own pilfered sculptures to their place of origin? Nigeria's National Commission for Museums and Monuments, with the agreement of the Nigerian oba, or king, is clear about wanting all the bronzes back, despite some initial hesitation. 'There is no more ambiguity,' the head of the commission said. Reporter Malcolm Gay noted that the MFA is looking for an ethical way forward. It should immediately return the five bronzes to which it has clear title and be the moral leader this moment demands. This is also the perfect occasion for Lehman to make amends by returning his collection of stolen bronzes to their rightful owners. Advertisement No equivocation. Don't wait years. Lehman has enjoyed these pieces for about half a century. The moment for him and the MFA to do the right thing is now. Mac Herrling Brunswick, Maine English teacher's students get a lesson in modern colonialism If you give a high school sophomore a Benin bronze, they can be thrust into a global discussion about colonialism. If you schedule a museum trip to view these bronzes, they might learn an unexpected lesson about modern entitlement instead. My 10th-grade English students at Brookline High School began with zero knowledge of the Benin bronzes — artifacts looted by British forces from the Kingdom of Benin in 1897. These pieces, representing craftsmanship that surpassed Western standards of their time, remain largely in Western possession despite growing calls for repatriation. While the ethical path is clear — return stolen cultural treasures to Nigeria — the reality is complex. The Rather than facilitate the bronzes' return to Nigeria, it seems that the donor has chosen private ownership. This decision not only brings an end to the MFA's dedicated gallery and prevents my students from viewing these important artifacts, but it also removes the pieces from public view entirely, adding another chapter of injustice to their story. For our world literature course we read Chinua Achebe's 'Things Fall Apart.' To extend our discussion of Nigerian literature and culture, I designed a unit around the Benin bronzes. While some students argued that museums might justifiably retain possession under certain conditions, all understood Nigeria's rightful claim. Not one student suggested that private collectors should have the right to withdraw such significant cultural artifacts from public access. Advertisement Though Lehman may have honorable intentions, the impact of his decision, on its face, reinforces colonial entitlement. Janet Kelley Brookline 'I hope we never lose this room' The following is an edited sampling of to Malcolm Gay's front-page story, 'MFA to return art to donor, close gallery': I never miss this room when I visit the MFA. When we were there in late March, I told my wife, 'I hope we never lose this room.' (kewcam) Majority of these third world countries asking or demanding for items back do not have the proper infrastructure or museums to even store never mind showcase these priceless works. (NorthHollywood) That's why conceding ownership to the country of origin while allowing the display at the MFA works. (sbrooks103) The Be sure to check out the Worcester Art Museum's arms and armor collection, second only to the Met. (charlotte sato)
Boston Globe
27-04-2025
- General
- Boston Globe
At the Museum of Fine Arts, a chance for justice
For years, the institution was tangled in a complicated relationship with a private collector that made it difficult to do the right thing by a set of plundered masterworks from West Africa. But now that the relationship is unraveling, the museum can — and should — pursue a measure of justice. The story begins in 2012, when banking heir and filmmaker Robert Owen Lehman pledged 34 pieces to the MFA, with plans to formally enter them into the museum's collection on a staggered timetable. Most of the objects were crafted centuries ago in the Benin Kingdom, in what is now southern Nigeria. Collectively known as Benin Bronzes, the sculptural heads, plaques, and pendants are a wonder to behold. Advertisement But a colonial shadow has long hung over them. In 1897, after a group of British officials were killed in a trade dispute, Britain launched a so-called punitive expedition against the Benin Kingdom (not to be confused with the modern-day nation of Benin, which borders Nigeria). Get The Gavel A weekly SCOTUS explainer newsletter by columnist Kimberly Atkins Stohr. Enter Email Sign Up The raiders looted thousands of objects from the royal palace. And the works were eventually auctioned off in London, landing in museums and private collections all over the world. In recent years, there has been a push for repatriation. The Smithsonian Advertisement The MFA seemed inclined to some kind of restitution of its own. But it was in a tricky position. It owned five of the bronzes outright — two commemorative heads, a pendant showing an oba (or king) and two dignitaries, a relief plaque showing two officials with raised swords, and a relief plaque showing a war chief with two attendants. But the balance were still on loan from Lehman. If the museum had decided to transfer ownership of some or all of its five objects to Nigeria, it risked rupturing its relationship with Lehman; there was a chance the collector would simply take back the 27 bronzes he still owned and remove them from public view. Better to aim, then, for some sort of global resolution for all the pieces. Last week, any hope for such a resolution seemed to come to an end. The MFA It's unclear what, exactly, happened. And it's a shame that some kind of agreement couldn't be reached: The moral case for transferring ownership of the Benin Kingdom's looted patrimony back to Nigeria is clear. There was potential for a creative resolution. The parties could have struck a deal that kept some or all of the bronzes on display in Boston; the plundered works now on display around the world have become cultural ambassadors for Nigeria. And perhaps the MFA could have loaned some objects to the African nation in return. There is precedent for this kind of exchange. In 2006, after decades of resistance, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York agreed to return a celebrated vase known as the Euphronios Krater to Italy in exchange for long-term loans of other antiquities. Advertisement A broad deal may be beyond reach at this point. But now that the museum has some distance from Lehman, it has an opportunity — and an obligation — to do what's right with the five pieces it owns outright. The MFA seems to be moving in the correct direction. Two of the museum's five pieces — one of the commemorative heads and the plaque showing two officials with raised swords — can be firmly traced back to the looting of 1897. And Victoria Reed, the institution's senior curator for provenance, told the Editorial Board that pieces like that would be 'appropriate candidates for restitution.' What that restitution looks like should ultimately be up to the Benin Kingdom, which still exists today as a ceremonial entity within the modern nation of Nigeria. But hopefully, any deal will involve continued display in Boston. The provenance of the museum's other three objects is murkier. But the MFA should continue learning what it can and, if appropriate, transfer ownership back to Nigeria. Justice, in this case, has been delayed for too long. Let it not be delayed much longer. Editorials represent the views of the Boston Globe Editorial Board. Follow us
