Latest news with #VanBommel
Time of India
20-05-2025
- General
- Time of India
Dutch museum removes 'priceless' Benin Bronzes for return to Nigeria
Dutch museum removes 'priceless' Benin Bronzes for return to Nigeria (Photo: AFP) Clad in protective blue surgical gloves, a Dutch museum worker gingerly unhooks a precious decorative artefact before gently laying it down on a pillow and wrapping it in dozens of layers of special paper. The artefact is a "Benin Bronze", a priceless cultural object looted from modern-day Nigeria more than 120 years ago, now being removed from display and returned to its rightful home. The Wereldmuseum (World Museum) in Leiden is restoring 113 of the ancient sculptures, the latest single return, as pressure mounts on Western governments and institutions to hand back the spoils of colonial oppression. "These don't belong here. They were violently taken, so they need to go back," museum director Marieke van Bommel told AFP in an interview. "This is a typical example of looted art," added the 50-year-old. The story of the Benin Bronzes is one of violence and tragedy. It began when nine British officers were killed on a trade mission to the then independent kingdom of Benin, in the south of present-day Nigeria. The British reaction was fierce. London deployed a military expedition to avenge its officers. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Sicurezza impareggiabile a partire dal 50% di sconto Bitdefender Undo The troops killed several thousand locals and torched Benin's capital city. They looted the royal palace, stealing hundreds of artworks, including the Benin Bronzes. Most of the ornate bronzes were then sold to finance the expedition, auctioned off or sold to museums across Europe and the United States. This was in 1897 and 128 years later, Nigeria is still negotiating the bronzes' return around the world, with mixed results. The Netherlands has agreed to return 119 bronzes in total, six more are coming from Rotterdam and Germany has also begun handing back its loot. However, the British Museum in London has refused to return any of its famed collection. A law passed in 1963 technically prevents the museum from giving back the treasures. Follow this example Museum director Van Bommel hopes the Dutch example will be picked up around the world. "I think we all agree that this collection doesn't belong in European museums. We do hope that other countries will follow this example," she said. The collection is priceless, said Van Bommel. "It's a cultural value, so we never put a price on it." The museum in Leiden has also restored hundreds of pieces of colonial loot to Indonesia, a former Dutch colony, Mexico and a community in the United States. Van Bommel said they had struck a deal to keep four of the bronzes on loan, so visitors can continue to learn their story. "We want to talk about the expedition, but also about the whole subject of restitution," she said. In the meantime, the museum will replace their collection with a display of contemporary art. As for the bronzes, they will be shipped to Lagos in mid-June. Former Nigerian president Muhammadu Buhari declared in 2023 that the returned works would be given to the Oba, the traditional ruler and not to the Nigerian state. There are plans to build a museum in Benin City in southern Edo state, where the bronzes will have pride of place.
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Dutch museum removes 'priceless' Benin Bronzes for return to Nigeria
Clad in protective blue surgical gloves, a Dutch museum worker gingerly unhooks a precious decorative artefact before gently laying it down on a pillow and wrapping it in dozens of layers of special paper. The artefact is a "Benin Bronze", a priceless cultural object looted from modern-day Nigeria more than 120 years ago, now being removed from display and returned to its rightful home. The Wereldmuseum (World Museum) in Leiden is restoring 113 of the ancient sculptures, the latest single return, as pressure mounts on Western governments and institutions to hand back the spoils of colonial oppression. "These don't belong here. They were violently taken, so they need to go back," museum director Marieke van Bommel told AFP in an interview. "This is a typical example of looted art," added the 50-year-old. The story of the Benin Bronzes is one of violence and tragedy. It began when nine British officers were killed on a trade mission to the then independent kingdom of Benin, in the south of present-day Nigeria. The British reaction was fierce. London deployed a military expedition to avenge its officers. The troops killed several thousand locals and torched Benin's capital city. They looted the royal palace, stealing hundreds of artworks, including the Benin Bronzes. Most of the ornate bronzes were then sold to finance the expedition, auctioned off or sold to museums across Europe and the United States. This was in 1897 and 128 years later, Nigeria is still negotiating the bronzes' return around the world -- with mixed results. The Netherlands has agreed to return 119 bronzes in total -- six more are coming from Rotterdam -- and Germany has also begun handing back its loot. However, the British Museum in London has refused to return any of its famed collection. A law passed in 1963 technically prevents the museum from giving back the treasures. - 'Follow this example' - Museum director Van Bommel hopes the Dutch example will be picked up around the world. "I think we all agree that this collection doesn't belong in European museums. We do hope that other countries will follow this example," she said. The collection is priceless, said Van Bommel. "It's a cultural value, so we never put a price on it." The museum in Leiden has also restored hundreds of pieces of colonial loot to Indonesia, a former Dutch colony, Mexico and a community in the United States. Van Bommel said they had struck a deal to keep four of the bronzes on loan, so visitors can continue to learn their story. "We want to talk about the expedition, but also about the whole subject of restitution," she said. In the meantime, the museum will replace their collection with a display of contemporary art. As for the bronzes, they will be shipped to Lagos in mid-June. Former Nigerian president Muhammadu Buhari declared in 2023 that the returned works would be given to the Oba -- the traditional ruler -- and not to the Nigerian state. There are plans to build a museum in Benin City in southern Edo state, where the bronzes will have pride of place. ric/kjm
France 24
20-05-2025
- General
- France 24
Dutch museum removes 'priceless' Benin Bronzes for return to Nigeria
The artefact is a "Benin Bronze", a priceless cultural object looted from modern-day Nigeria more than 120 years ago, now being removed from display and returned to its rightful home. The Wereldmuseum (World Museum) in Leiden is restoring 113 of the ancient sculptures, the latest single return, as pressure mounts on Western governments and institutions to hand back the spoils of colonial oppression. "These don't belong here. They were violently taken, so they need to go back," museum director Marieke van Bommel told AFP in an interview. "This is a typical example of looted art," added the 50-year-old. The story of the Benin Bronzes is one of violence and tragedy. It began when nine British officers were killed on a trade mission to the then independent kingdom of Benin, in the south of present-day Nigeria. The British reaction was fierce. London deployed a military expedition to avenge its officers. The troops killed several thousand locals and torched Benin's capital city. They looted the royal palace, stealing hundreds of artworks, including the Benin Bronzes. Most of the ornate bronzes were then sold to finance the expedition, auctioned off or sold to museums across Europe and the United States. This was in 1897 and 128 years later, Nigeria is still negotiating the bronzes' return around the world -- with mixed results. The Netherlands has agreed to return 119 bronzes in total -- six more are coming from Rotterdam -- and Germany has also begun handing back its loot. However, the British Museum in London has refused to return any of its famed collection. A law passed in 1963 technically prevents the museum from giving back the treasures. 'Follow this example' Museum director Van Bommel hopes the Dutch example will be picked up around the world. "I think we all agree that this collection doesn't belong in European museums. We do hope that other countries will follow this example," she said. The collection is priceless, said Van Bommel. "It's a cultural value, so we never put a price on it." The museum in Leiden has also restored hundreds of pieces of colonial loot to Indonesia, a former Dutch colony, Mexico and a community in the United States. Van Bommel said they had struck a deal to keep four of the bronzes on loan, so visitors can continue to learn their story. "We want to talk about the expedition, but also about the whole subject of restitution," she said. In the meantime, the museum will replace their collection with a display of contemporary art. As for the bronzes, they will be shipped to Lagos in mid-June. Former Nigerian president Muhammadu Buhari declared in 2023 that the returned works would be given to the Oba -- the traditional ruler -- and not to the Nigerian state. There are plans to build a museum in Benin City in southern Edo state, where the bronzes will have pride of place.
Int'l Business Times
20-05-2025
- General
- Int'l Business Times
Dutch Museum Removes 'Priceless' Benin Bronzes For Return To Nigeria
Clad in protective blue surgical gloves, a Dutch museum worker gingerly unhooks a precious decorative artefact before gently laying it down on a pillow and wrapping it in dozens of layers of special paper. The artefact is a "Benin Bronze", a priceless cultural object looted from modern-day Nigeria more than 120 years ago, now being removed from display and returned to its rightful home. The Wereldmuseum (World Museum) in Leiden is restoring 113 of the ancient sculptures, the latest single return, as pressure mounts on Western governments and institutions to hand back the spoils of colonial oppression. "These don't belong here. They were violently taken, so they need to go back," museum director Marieke van Bommel told AFP in an interview. "This is a typical example of looted art," added the 50-year-old. The story of the Benin Bronzes is one of violence and tragedy. It began when nine British officers were killed on a trade mission to the then independent kingdom of Benin, in the south of present-day Nigeria. The British reaction was fierce. London deployed a military expedition to avenge its officers. The troops killed several thousand locals and torched Benin's capital city. They looted the royal palace, stealing hundreds of artworks, including the Benin Bronzes. Most of the ornate bronzes were then sold to finance the expedition, auctioned off or sold to museums across Europe and the United States. This was in 1897 and 128 years later, Nigeria is still negotiating the bronzes' return around the world -- with mixed results. The Netherlands has agreed to return 119 bronzes in total -- six more are coming from Rotterdam -- and Germany has also begun handing back its loot. However, the British Museum in London has refused to return any of its famed collection. A law passed in 1963 technically prevents the museum from giving back the treasures. Museum director Van Bommel hopes the Dutch example will be picked up around the world. "I think we all agree that this collection doesn't belong in European museums. We do hope that other countries will follow this example," she said. The collection is priceless, said Van Bommel. "It's a cultural value, so we never put a price on it." The museum in Leiden has also restored hundreds of pieces of colonial loot to Indonesia, a former Dutch colony, Mexico and a community in the United States. Van Bommel said they had struck a deal to keep four of the bronzes on loan, so visitors can continue to learn their story. "We want to talk about the expedition, but also about the whole subject of restitution," she said. In the meantime, the museum will replace their collection with a display of contemporary art. As for the bronzes, they will be shipped to Lagos in mid-June. Former Nigerian president Muhammadu Buhari declared in 2023 that the returned works would be given to the Oba -- the traditional ruler -- and not to the Nigerian state. There are plans to build a museum in Benin City in southern Edo state, where the bronzes will have pride of place.
Yahoo
30-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Nasa rover spots strange Martian rock that looks like ‘chocolate cake'
Nasa's Curiosity rover has spotted a strange rock formation on Mars that looks like a multilayered chocolate cake. The rover team faced a technical challenge to find a safe area on the Red Planet to deploy the space vehicle's APXS spectrometer and MAHLI camera instruments. They eventually managed to place the APXS equipment on top of a prominent rock to study its target Martian area, including layered rocks named 'Hale Telescope' after the famous astronomical landmark in San Diego, California. The rover imaged and conducted analyses of another target a little further from the Hale Telescope area called 'Fan Palm'. In all, the Curiosity rover completed a drive of some 23 meters in preparation for the study plan lasting three Martian days. Curiosity now has its instruments as well as the APXS spectrometer set on the 'cakey target', planetary scientist Scott Van Bommel from Washington University said in a Nasa blog post. 'Perhaps it was because of Easter last weekend, perhaps I needed an early lunch,' Dr VanBommel commented, 'whatever the cause, I could not shake the visual parallels between the rocks in our workspace as captured in this blog's image and a many-layered cake such as a Prinzregententorte.' The weathering patterns on the rock formation make it look like a 'layered cake that little fingers have picked the icing off,' researchers say. The spacecraft has undergone a new AI software upgrade, giving it greater autonomy to choose its next target, Nasa noted. An upgraded version of the Curiosity's AEGIS instrument would enable the rover to autonomously determine the target and analyse it with its chemical analysis equipment. The rover's encounter with the strange rock formation occurred just days after it was captured driving across the Red Planet for the first time from orbit. An image taken by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter showed Curiosity as a dark speck at the front of a trail of rover tracks about 320m long. Making tracks: From its vantage point in space, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter again captured the @MarsCuriosity rover, this time in mid-drive. The combination of eyes in the sky and wheels on the ground has helped us reveal the planet in new ways. — NASA Mars (@NASAMars) April 24, 2025 Since its landing at the Martian Gale Crater in August 2012, Curiosity has uncovered many details about the Red Planet's ancient habitability, helping find if it ever had the conditions to support microbial life. Its mobile science lab analyses rocks, soil and the Martian atmosphere, looking for chemical signatures of life. It has made several landmark discoveries, including evidence of ancient riverbeds, organic molecules, and past habitable environments. The rover has also helped determine the current Martian climate and radiation levels which could help future astronauts prepare for exploration.
