Is African Art Being Given The Credit It Deserves?

For the longest time, Africa has been a hotspot for artistic brilliance from textiles and sculptures to architectural wonders. However, most of these pieces of artwork are in museums and galleries outside of Africa, in Western countries, which begs the heated debate about recognition and ownership of these pieces of art. Is African art being stolen and uncredited by the Western world?

The looting of African art goes back to colonial times, when European powers took artifacts during military invasions. An example of this was the ‘Benin Bronzes’ pictured in Figure 1. What happened during this time was that “during the second half of the 19th century, Britain had ambitions for control over west African resources and territory. Their plans involved forcing the Oba, or king, to open the Edo Kingdom to British commercial firms and missionaries”, when the Oba refused and planned an ambush, British troops were sent to raid the Royal palace where they looted 3000 to 5000 cultural artifacts (National Museums Scotland, n.d.). This was the start of many looting stories, through colonialism. 

According to journalist Gbadamosi (2022), “Europe, more than any other region in the world, including Africa, holds the largest collection of ancient African artifacts. The total number of African objects in museums across the United States barely reaches 50,000. Yet Belgium’s Royal Museum for Central Africa alone has 180,000 objects, Germany’s Ethnological Museum has 75,000, France’s Quai Branly Museum has almost 70,000, the British Museum has 73,000, and the Netherlands’ National Museum of World Cultures has 66,000.” These statistics highlight the extent to which Africa’s cultural heritage has been depleted. As an African, I think that this really stems deeper than just stolen artifacts. Beyond theft, there is the question of artistic credit. Western institutions have historically framed African art as “primitive” or “tribal,” dismissing its ingenuity. When we talk about Cubism specifically, we see that many people think of Picasso, who came from Europe. However, after doing research, I found that there are findings that Picasso was inspired by “the traditional abstract sculptures of the Makonde people of north-Tanzania” (Alafia, 2020) such as the one in Figure 2. When Picasso was questioned about his inspiration, he denied it due to political and patriotic reasons, another instance where African art has been used uncredited. He was given credit as one of the fathers of Cubism while Africans had been carving out Cubist art years before he began. This marginalization extends beyond art: “Organisations like The Black Curriculum want to see Black British history taught all year round in schools, highlighting the current lack of education about Black history” (Alafia, 2020). The neglect of African achievements is mirrored in the art world, where African contributions remain under-recognized.

Voices shouting cries for restitution are getting louder by the day and France is one of the few countries putting in effort to return the artifacts as soon as possible, “President Macron declared that the return of African art to the continent was one of his priorities because “African heritage cannot be only in private collections and European museums, it must be showcased in Paris but also in Dakar, Lagos and Cotonou” (LSE Editor, 2019). It is wonderful to see some countries keen on giving Africa what belongs to them and giving credit for these amazing pieces of work that were stolen during colonisation. However, Western museums often argue that African nations lack the infrastructure to preserve these artifacts. Critics counter that this argument ignores the fact that many of these pieces were cared for by African communities for centuries before they were taken. “Six decades on from independence, African governments are actively seeking the return of stolen artefacts. Historically, European authorities refuted claims for return on the basis that they could not determine who the original owners were” (Gbadamosi, 2021). This reluctance shows a lack of respect for African sovereignty and cultural heritage.

I really do believe that this debate is not only about ownership, but about accountability as a matter of concern, justice, and identity. African artists, myself included, need to be at the forefront of these conversations. We need to support African artists, so that they receive the recognition they deserve and preserve their works in ways that the rest of the world can learn from and recognise us. Together let’s unite Africans :) Take back what’s lost!

Sources:

Alafia. (2020, July 7). Cubism: Invented or stolen?. Medium. https://medium.com/@alafiapubaccount/cubism-invented-or-stolen-9eb665fbd233 

Bandah Panga, C. P. (2023). The Revenance: Attempting a Reappropriation of Objects of African Art. Theoretical Contribution to the Restitution Debate. Revista Universitara de Sociologie, 2023(2), 138–148.

Gbadamosi, N. (2022, June 7). Africa’s stolen art debate is frozen in time. Foreign Policy. https://foreignpolicy.com/2022/05/15/africa-art-museum-europe-restitution-debate-book-colonialism-artifacts/ 

Gbadamosi, N. (2021, October 26). Stealing Africa: How Britain looted the continent’s art. Al Jazeera. https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2021/10/12/stealing-africa-how-britain-looted-the-continents-art 

LSE Editors. (2019, July 9). Why the restitution of art to African countries could potentially reshape Europe-Africa Relations:. Africa at LSE. https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/africaatlse/2019/01/07/why-the-restitution-of-art-to-african-countries-could-potentially-reshape-europe-africa-relations/ 

National Museums Scotland Editors. (n.d.). The British raid on Benin 1897. National Museums Scotland. https://www.nms.ac.uk/discover-catalogue/the-british-raid-on-benin 1897#:~:text=These%20looted%20objects%20are%20often,looted%20during%20the%20colonial%20period 

Lecture - Why Histories and Theories

List of Figures:

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