Kwame Opoku critically looks at James Cuno’s recent statements regarding “credible museums” and “non-credible museums” and asks what precisely Cuno means by these terms remembering that recent events have shown that major and prestigious museums in the USA cannot be trusted to have acquired their antiquities in an entirely legal mode. Read the rest of this entry »
Boubacar Boris Diop rend hommage à Ousmane Sembène, qui nous a quittés le 9 juin 2007, sans avoir jamais assigné la moindre limite à son mépris du qu’en-dira-t-on. A quatre-vingt-cinq ans, il se sentait si bien dans sa peau, qu’il se faisait appeler par dérision, l’«Aîné des Anciens». Le fait est, cependant, qu’il a vécu très longtemps en réussissant à préserver sa jeunesse d’esprit. [Pambazuka]
In order to deny States the right to control excavations on their land and to prevent them from claiming ownership of artefacts found in their countries, James Cuno, Director of the Art Institute of Chicago, in his new book goes so far as to deny any continuity between the peoples of present States and those of ancient civilizations. [Full Text Article, pdf]
In the case of request for restitution of stolen objects in the British Museum, the question of legal ownership - a question which is fundamental to all claims of property - is not even posed. The main question here is whether the British Museum can afford to dispense with the object in question i.e. whether it can and will de-accession the object. By Kwame Opoku. [Full Text Article, pdf]
The exhibition, Benin: Kings and Rituals Court Arts from Nigeria, which has generated debates about restitution of stolen art goes to the Art Institute of Chicago. It is to be noted that the exhibition will not be seen in Nigeria. Kwame Opoku reflects on what kind of institution the Art Institute of Chicago is? [Full Text Article, pdf]
In a recent article in a leading German newspaper, Die Welt (Welt On Line), with the title “Farewell to intellectual Colonialism”, Wolf Lepenies, holder of the Peace Price of the German Book Industry, reminded me once again of the enormous difficulties Europeans, even intellectuals, seem to experience when they deal with African problems. By Kwame Opoku. [Full Text Article, pdf]
Youma Fall, membre de l’équipe de curateurs de la Biennale de l’Art Africain Contemporain Dak’ART, analyse dans le cadre du Forum de Dialogue d’AfricAvenir à Berlin la création africaine dans l’art contemporain et sa place dans les relations entre l’Afrique et l’Europe et le monde. (Introduction en allemand par Judith Strohm).
Should States and institutions holding stolen cultural property not voluntarily take action to return them? What then is the use of the repeated declarations on willingness to co-operate internationally when one is not even willing to consider restoring admittedly stolen items? In what will such States co-operate? By Kwame Opoku. [Full-Text-Aricle, pdf]
We have in previous articles raised the issue of copyright in stolen African cultural objects that are now in European and American museums and the profit the museums are making by the granting of permission to use images of these objects or to film them. Read the rest of this entry »
For those who are hoping that the British Museum may reconsider its position on the Parthenon/Elgin Marbles and adopt a position closer to the views of the United Nations and UNESCO and thereby contribute towards an acceptable solution to this decades-long dispute on the Parthenon Marbles, the statement issued by the British Museum almost a year ago, on 21 April 21 2007, must serve as a warning that such a change is not on the horizon. Read the rest of this entry »