Eight Swiss museums have come together under the leadership of the Museum Rietberg in Zurich to investigate the provenance of their holdings from the historical Kingdom of Benin in Nigeria. The aim of the Swiss Benin Initiative (BIS) is to shed light on the contexts of acquisition in the colonial past and to understand Switzerland’s role in the trade of looted art works from Benin City. Whilst at the time of writing, no restitution claims have been presented to Switzerland, it is a matter of concern to participating museums to instigate research and address the problematic issues of looted Benin heritage in Swiss museums.
Exchange and dialogue with Nigeria are at the forefront of this project, and this report is intended to provide a basis for dialogue with partners in Nigeria on the future of these collections.
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