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- 1. Eppo Bruins, Minister of
Culture of the Netherlands
Photo: Remco van de Pol (CC BY-SA 4.0) - See the image in its page
In the great race to return artefacts to Africa, the Netherlands have just got back into the game with a sensational move supported and validated by the Minister of Culture Eppo Bruins (ill. 1).
More than a hundred objects from the Kingdom of Benin (now Nigeria), mostly from the collections of the Wereldmuseum in Leiden (ill. 2), are to be returned to their country of origin.
As Minister Bruins soberly comments: "This restitution contributes to redressing a historical injustice that is still being felt today. Cultural heritage is essential for telling and living the history of a country and a community. The Benin Bronzes are indispensable to Nigeria. It is good that they are going back".
The reasons given for this return are based on the fact that these artefacts were acquired when the British took Benin City in 1897.
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- 2. Benin City, Nigeria, beni culture, 17th century
Commemorative Head
Brass - 24.2 x 20 x 22.8 cm
Leiden, Wereldmuseum
Promised for restitution.
Photo: Wereldmuseum - See the image in its page
In a previous article, we have already elaborated on the causes of this English military campaign. We also pointed out the non-existence of an acquisition policy for Nigeria, a country with a significant number of millionaires and billionaires, for heritage objects from the Kingdom of Benin that have been put up for sale for several decades.
We would also point out that the seizure of objects by the British did not contravene any laws at the time relating to the customs of war, whether European or Beninese. Moreover, this military campaign took place in 1897, and it was not until 1899 that the Hague Convention established the first international legal basis for dealing with looting in the event of conflict.
Finally, this frenzy of total recovery by Nigeria of these objects that have become "indispensable" is not really in line with what the oba (sovereigns) of Benin demanded in terms of restitution in the past. As researcher Audrey Peraldi makes very clear, it was in February 1935 that the oba Akenzua II asked Lord Plymouth, Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies, to help him find two copper alloy thrones taken in 1897 and which were in Berlin [1]. At no point did this grandson of the Oba Ovonramwen, defeated by the English in 1897, demand the return of all the Benin bronzes [2] disappeared.
That said, we do not know all the details of this recent agreement between the Netherlands and Nigeria. For example, will these promised artefacts be the property of the state or handed over to the private person of the oba Ewuare II as was the case with the Benin artefacts returned by the German government in 2023 (see this article)?
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- 3. Pasquier Borman (active in the
first half of the 16th century)
Altarpiece of Boussu
Before the seizure of the missing
elements and reconstruction
Boussu, Saint Géry church
(seigneurial chapel)
Photo: IRPA - See the image in its page
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- 4. Pasquier Borman (active in the
first half of the 16th century)
Altarpiece of Boussu
After the seizure of the missing
elements and reconstruction
Boussu, Saint Géry church
(seigneurial chapel)
Photo: IRPA - See the image in its page
In any case, it should be noted that the Netherlands practises double standards when it comes to restitution. There is a little story about this [3]. On the night of 14 November 1914, parts of a 16th-century altarpiece by Pasquier Borman were stolen from the church of Saint Géry in Boussu (Belgium) (ill. 3 and 4). Although the perpetrators were arrested and tried in 1915, the stolen pieces were never found. We will now fast forward the story to 2006. That year, the missing objects were donated to the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen (Rotterdam). In 2008, this museum received a letter from the municipality of Boussu requesting the restitution of the said objects, which are part of the heritage of the Walloon region. The museum ignored this request for restitution for many years, even though it was much more admissible, from a strictly legal point of view, than that of the Benin bronzes. It was not until 2019 that things started to move. However, this development did not initially come from the competent Dutch authorities, but rather resulted from the action of the Belgian police, who seized the altarpiece elements that were then on loan to the M Museum in Leuven (Belgium) for the Borman & fils exhibition.
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- 5. Reinette Klever, Minister for
Foreign Trade and Development
Cooperation of the Netherlands
Photo: Ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken (CC BY-SA 2.0) - See the image in its page
Let’s close the Boussu parenthesis and return to the Benin artefacts. In fact, what we find most interesting in this case is the media hype surrounding it. Numerous newspapers, both Dutch and foreign, have praised the generosity of the Netherlands, which has become the new example to follow in terms of memorial repair and friendship between peoples.
It is a pity, however, that journalists have not also taken an interest in the statement made by another Dutch minister who closely followed that of Eppo Bruins .
In February 2025, Reinette Klever, the minister for foreign trade and development aid (ill. 5), stated that, from 2027, the government would cut 2.4 billion euros from the 6.2 billion euros earmarked annually for development aid.
The remaining 3.8 billion should only be used for three aspects: trade and the economy, security and stability, and migration [4].
In terms of immigration, the use of funds could help migrants build a life in a country neighbouring their country of origin.
As the minister says: "... By offering them a perspective there, people could build a future close to home and would not need to make the journey to Europe’.
Of course, as the Nederlandse Omroep Stichting (NOS) article points out, this cut in development budgets will sacrifice some secondary projects: women’s rights, gender equality, vocational and higher education, sports and culture. As for UNICEF, its funding will be halved.
Let us have no doubt about it: this desire for financial reorientation aimed at contributing directly to Dutch interests (according to Minister Klever) is just as altruistic as returning a Benin bronze to its homeland. We can therefore imagine that the thurifers of Batavian restitutions will welcome it with similar satisfaction.
In fact, if we were a little cynical, we might think that returning the Benin bronzes to Nigeria is more like a Dutch bargain.
1) In 2023, the Wereldmuseum in Leiden and its arts of the world attracted approximately 100,000 visitors per year... a far cry from the appeal of the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, with its Rembrandts and its 2,700,000 visitors. From the point of view of the cultural and tourist appeal of the Netherlands, there would not therefore be a real problem in amputating the Leiden collections by a hundred objects.
2) By returning these works, the government could buy itself a progressive morality allowing it to ‘package’ a hardening and reorientation of the economic aid devoted to development.
3) In relation to point two, it would be important to make an estimate of the current financial value of all the objects promised for restitution to Nigeria... not all of which are masterpieces, far from it. A quick estimate, which would necessarily need to be refined, puts the total at between 15 and 20 million euros. A somewhat expensive advertising campaign, certainly... but acceptable for ‘morality washing’ and, in any case, less expensive than a Nike advert directed by Robert Rodriguez.
Of course, as we said, you would have to be extremely cynical to use the museum’s heritage in this way. But we know that politicians never are.