Artnet: Dispelling Rumors, Greece Has Rejected the British Museum’s Offer to Return the Parthenon Marbles as a Long-Term Loan. “Greece has rejected the prospect of a ‘long-term loan’ of the Parthenon marbles from the British Museum in London, despite reports just last week that the two sides were nearing an agreement.”
The Art Newspaper: Cologne museum to transfer 92-strong Benin bronze collection back to Nigeria. “The Rautenstrauch-Joest-Museum, an ethnological museum that opened in 1906, says it will transfer ownership of 92 works; three items will be returned this month with 52 objects to be transferred from next year. The remainder will remain on long-term loan to the Rautenstrauch-Joest-Museum in line with other restitution agreements.”
Smithsonian Magazine: The Smithsonian Returns a Trove of Benin Bronzes to Nigeria. “In a joint ceremony today, the National Gallery of Art and the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African Art (NMAfA) collectively transferred ownership of 30 Benin bronzes, 29 of which come from the Smithsonian, to the people of Nigeria. Of the 29 items, 20 will be returned to Nigeria’s National Commission for Museums and Monuments (NCMM) and nine will remain, loaned to the NMAfA for later display.”
University of Maine: New exhibit featuring 3D-printed replica of 19th-century helmet opens at Hudson Museum. “The original Tlingit Frog Clan Helmet, carved out of yellow cedar, painted in green and red pigments and inlaid with abalone shell discs that were previously attached to a textile, sits alongside its identical replica. The 3D printed model was created by engineers from UMaine’s Advanced Structures and Composites Center and graduate students from the Intermedia Programs. Both helmets are surrounded by photos depicting the stages in the process to create the replica and panels describing how the original helmet came to the museum, what sparked the efforts to recreate it, who worked on the project and their roles.”
Washington Post: Smithsonian to give back its collection of Benin bronzes. “The repatriation of the 39 priceless artworks is the cornerstone of an agreement that could be signed as early as next month, the head of Nigeria’s National Commission for Museums and Monuments told The Washington Post. It includes provisions for long-term loans, shared exhibitions and education programs in Nigeria. The deal reflects a fundamental change in the Smithsonian’s collecting practices.”
The Art Newspaper: Louvre teams up with Sotheby’s to investigate provenance of works bought during the Second World War. “Sotheby’s and the Louvre in Paris have joined forces on a project aimed at researching items acquired by the museum between 1933 and 1945. The sponsorship deal, which lasts three years, will help fund research that ‘may lead to restitutions [incorporating] digitisation, the organisation of seminars, study days, and publications’, the Louvre says in a statement.”
The Guardian: Newcastle museum to return Benin bronze stave. “A Benin bronze in the collection of a Newcastle museum is to be proactively returned to Nigeria, the latest in a number of repatriations that ratchet up pressure on the British Museum to follow suit. Bosses of the Great North Museum: Hancock announced that it had recently been established that a brass stave with a distinctive bird finial had been looted from Benin City by the British military in 1897.”
The Art Newspaper: Smithsonian Museum of African Art removes Benin bronzes from display and plans to repatriate them . “The Smithsonian Institute’s National Museum of African Art in Washington, DC has removed its Benin bronzes from display and is planning to repatriate artefacts that were looted by the British in an 1897 raid on the royal palace, according to the museum’s director, Ngaire Blankenberg.”
South China Morning Post: As Australia returns Indian antiques worth US$2.2 million, many others remain smuggled worldwide . “India is set to welcome back 14 antiques worth US$2.2 million from Australia’s national art museum, in the fourth such repatriation of artworks allegedly stolen by a man described as ‘one of the most prolific commodities smugglers in the world’. The National Gallery of Australia acquired dozens of pieces between 1989 to 2009 from the New York gallery of Subhash Kapoor, who is currently on trial in India on several cases of fraud and antique pilferage.”
Museums Association: Trustees approve return of Benin bronzes held in Berlin museums. “Trustees of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation, the federal government body that oversees the city’s state museums, authorised its director Hermann Panzinger to “negotiate the return of objects from the collections of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin as part of the joint negotiations between the Federal Republic of Germany and the competent authorities in Nigeria.”
HyperAllergic: Smithsonian Returns a Pre-Incan Gold Ornament to Peru. “In a ceremony today, June 15, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian returned a pre-Incan gold ornament from its collection to Peru’s government. The item, an ‘Echenique Disc,’ is recognized as the symbol of the city of Cusco in Peru, once the capital of the Inca Empire.”
