Memories, creative industries and national transformation III

Its negative reverberation emerges, for example in the reckless  destruction and looting of artefacts in Mali, the  protracted period of mindless illegal dealing in Afghanistan during the Tabilanist revolt. On a positive note there is the recent, but welcome massive return of stolen artefacts to the country by British forces. Here, in our country since […]

Its negative reverberation emerges, for example in the reckless  destruction and looting of artefacts in Mali, the  protracted period of mindless illegal dealing in Afghanistan during the Tabilanist revolt. On a positive note there is the recent, but welcome massive return of stolen artefacts to the country by British forces. Here, in our country since the late nineteen century, invaluable ancestral patrimony in tangible culture have been carted out of the country under various guises, including the destructive warfare inflicted on Benin Kingdom by British imperialist forces. This occasioned the lament of the Oba of Benin, in the opening epigram.
The criminal destruction of heritage treasures of Mali, including numerous cultural sites housed in the legendary UNESCO World Heritage Site, by the rebel groups who took control of the ancient city of Timbuktu is an important part of the on-going cultural genocide across the world. A statement  by the Director of UNESCO, Irina Bokoba, underline the concerns raised by international groups that ‘The recent takeover of these cities by the Tuaregs rebels could have damaging effects on the management and conservation of the three mosques and 16 mausoleums of Timbuktu as well as the Tomb of Askia Gao’ ( April 17, 2002) The city of  Timbuktu  was founded around the 5th century  and it grew into an Islamic and academic hub in the 15th century, with buildings and artefacts from Timbuktu’s golden age and it is still extant today.  By virtue of the Geneva Conventions which gives cognizance to customary international law, the destruction of these artefacts is a crime.
This syndicalist lootage of Mali’s history is a direct result of the soaring international demand for Mali’s antiquities. This has led to the loss of the country’s most highly prized artefacts, which include wood and brass carving, jewelleries, wicker products and fabric designs. Just to attempt to attach cost value to these artefacts and emphasize the revenue generating potential of tangible cultural products, Mali Wood carving 79’’ is valued at $6000 while an ancestral figuring is valued at $2500. In the year 2007, Malian artefacts were seized in France while her Ancient art objects and tools are on display by the French customs officers. The looters were headed for Los Angeles and the artefacts were labelled handicraft for the purpose of evasion. These pieces date back to the Neolithic era. It is not only material cultural products that were stolen from Timbuktu. Recently, the United National raised a shrieking alarm  at the thieving of thousands of rare books stolen from Timbuktu’s Ahmad Baba Institute of Higher Islamic Studies and Research (New York Times, April 16, 2012)
On a rather positive note, the British Museum and United Kingdom police, as well as border forces, helped to facilitate the return of 843 clinically catalogued items which included decorative inlays dating back to the first century CE. This must be added to the over 1,500 historical pieces returned to Afghanistan by the British Museum. Also returned are a Medieval Islamic coins and a 2,300 year-old stone water spout in the shape of a lion’s head. A Japanese collector took hold of a second century schist Buddha and refused to return it.  Fortunately, a British dealer, under anonymous cover, bought it and returned it to the British Museum. This is, in addition to the return of looted treasures from the Afghanistan’s national Museum and decades old rich archaeological sites. These returned (843) pieces were said to date back from the Bronze Age and up to the Islamic period. The ravaging effect of the Taliban age thus goes beyond the actual impact of the wars to the untold havoc that the looting of the nation’s heritage has wrought.
In the Nigerian experience, the situation of organized looting of the nation’s priceless artefacts has a prolonged history. Dating back to the looting of Benin bronzes and ivory works from the palace of the Oba of Benin during the so-called, heinous and nefarious, punitive (I call it roguish) expedition by the British Naval forces, to the recent reports that the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston took custody of a large number of Benin artefacts as a ‘gift’ from a New York banker and art collector, Robert Owen Lehman. The Benin artefacts were said to have been bought in the 1950s and 1970s. They have, sadly, been adjudged to be among the best of Benin artefacts in their alluring beauty, creative dexterity, elegance, and sophistication, as described by the press (huffingpost.com/2021/06/29boston-mseum-of-fine-art).  We must emphasize the criminal impact of this looting and the killing of innocent Binis. Over 4000 objects were removed from the Oba of Benin’s palace during this uncouth invasion which ended in the burning down of the palace!