The British Museum (BM) and the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) of the United Kingdom have returned thirty-two royal objects which were taken from the Palace in Kumasi during the Anglo-Asante Wars of the 19th century, including items from the Sargrenti War of 1874, to Ghana.
Gold and silver regalia associated with the Asante royal court will be displayed at the Palace Museum as part of a long-term loan commitment by the V&A and the British Museum. Many of these items will be seen in Ghana for the first time in 150 years.
The hundred- and fifty-year-old mostly golden royal regalia, on loan for an initial three years and renewable for another three, include fifteen pieces from the BM and seventeen from the V&A.
The return follows the final signing of official documentation in London two weeks ago by the directors of the BM and V&A, Sir Mark Jones and Dr. Tristram Hunt, and chief negotiator Mr. Ivor Agyeman-Duah, who represented and signed on behalf of the Manhyia Palace.
The return is in the context of the silver jubilee year of the Asantehene Osei Tutu II, who first opened negotiations in May 2023. It is also connected to the 150th commemoration last February and the coming centenary of the return of the Asantehene Prempeh I from exile in Seychelles.
Otumfuo Osei Tutu II will receive the objects and specially designed Belgian cases in Kumasi. The subsequent closure of the Manhyia Palace Museum for three weeks will be for installation works and encasing of over forty returned objects, including seven that have already been permanently given by the Fowler Museum of the University of California, Los Angeles.
These objects will collectively constitute the star objects of an international exhibition titled “Homecoming- Adversity and Commemoration,” curated by a team of British and Ghanaian curators from the BM, V&A, Foundation for Contemporary Art, Manhyia Palace, and KNUST. The exhibition is supported by partners such as British Airways, Fidelity Bank, and the Otumfuo Foundation.
The opening by the Asantehene on May 1, 2024, will be attended by directors, curators, and trustees of the BM and V&A from London, as well as journalists and photographers from major media outlets. The occasion will also see the launch of two major books: “A History of Manhyia Palace Museum- Inaugural and Other Objects” by Agyeman-Duah and “Images of Ghana- Museums, the Ownership of Cultural Property and Restitution” by Prof. Malcolm McLeod.
As Manhyia Palace engages in cultural initiatives, new paradigms on restitutions with British organizations and others continue, as seen recently in South Africa with the Gold of Africa Collection. The Asantehene will also give a major public lecture on Asante Culture and Heritage- Past and Present at the BM in London in July 2024, as part of evolving cooperation in international cultures and mutual technical and business development.
The BM and V&A have selected world-leading Anglo-Ghanaian philosopher Kwame Anthony Appiah of New York University to introduce the occasion and lecture. Appiah is also the current President of the American Academy of Arts and Letters.