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‘The Benin Bronzes are returning home’: Germany and Nigeria sign historic restitution agreement
More than 1,100 looted items will be transferred though some artefacts will remain on loan to German museums
The German government is powering forward with its ambitious restitution programme, signing a key agreement transferring ownership of more than 1,100 works to Nigeria.
- Gareth Harris
- © The Art Newspaper
Two of the Benin bronze artefacts, a head of a king (or oba) and a 16th-century plaque, were handed over to the Nigerian representatives at a signing ceremony on 1 July.
At the ceremony in Berlin, the German foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, said:
“The Benin bronzes are returning home…
It was wrong to take the…