Description
For centuries, Benin was the centre of the mighty Kingdom of Benin. Much of the kingdom’s history can be found in the National Museum of Benin City. On our way to Cameroon, we pay a brief visit to the museum.
The museum displays sculptures, ivory artefacts, ceremonial objects and other archaeological finds. Many of the objects are associated with the court of the Oba, the traditional king of Benin.
The world-famous Benin Bronzes are largely absent. These works of art were looted by British troops in 1897 during the sacking of the royal palace. They were sold to museums and private collectors in Europe and North America.
In recent years, various museums and governments have acknowledged that the objects were acquired unlawfully and have decided to return them. Germany was one of the first countries to return a large number of objects. The Netherlands also handed over a total of 119 Benin objects in 2025.
We are surprised that so little attention has been paid to the way in which the collection is displayed, despite the intensive contacts with European museums that have undoubtedly taken place. Masks, for example, are simply nailed to the wall in dirty, poorly lit rooms.
We visited Nigeria on our overland trip by car (a Toyota LandCruiser 4WD campervan) from West-Africa; see our channel https://www.youtube.com/user/JanvanBekkum for hundreds of clips. More clips of Nigeria can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMYlw_C7EP8KqyTKPnPCZ38MjsZxf_bkB.
Music and/or sound effects:
- 'Expeditionary' by Kevin MacLeod. Link: www.incompetech.com. License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/;
- 'Symphony of the Streets. Hip-Hop Background Music for video 60 second' created by Maksim Dudchyk and uploadexd from Pixbay (https://pixabay.com/nl/music/orkestraal-symphony-of-the-streets-hip-hop-background-music-for-video-60-second-476679/).;
- 'Calm inspiring technology logo short version' created by Alex Zavesa, distributed by Pixabay (https://pixabay.com/sound-effects/film-special-effects-calm-inspiring-technology-logo-short-version-518993/).