Back to Benin

On November 10, 2025, Museum de Fundatie formally transferred the ownership of the only Benin Ama (Bronze plaque) from its collection to its rightful custodian: the Oba of Benin, Ewuare II, through the National Commission for Museums and Monuments (NCMM) Nigeria. The handover took place at the National Museum, Benin City formalized by the Museum director, Beatrice von Bormann and Dr. Babatunde Adebiyi, head of legal affairs at the NCMM. This act of restitution forms the foundation of Back to Benin: New Art, Ancient Legacy, an exhibition with ten contemporary artists from Nigeria with Edo background.

Back to Benin: New Art, Ancient Legacy creates a space unfolding the different dimensions prompted and embodied by the Benin bronze plaque and its central figure, a mudfish, an important symbol within Edo culture. By engaging with the plaque, the artists have not only responded to its history but also contributed to its repair. In this regard, the plaque has ceased to be an isolated museum object and instead became a portal for renewed dialogue with a living culture. As observed by Engelbert Mveng, “African history is written in works of art. Deciphering this history opens up a unique and unprecedented chapter in epigraphy. It is no longer true to say that African history lacks written documents; what is true is that too often, we are illiterate when it comes to its writing.”

This curatorial approach underscores that even a single object can be a container of multiple stories, messages and forms. It emphasizes that restitution is not only material but also about knowledge, memory and imagination. 

The exhibition is a multisensory journey across a time where the past, the present, and the future coexist. Through drawings, paintings, illustrations, sculptures, textile, photography, time-based media, video and sound installations, the artists explore Benin expansive and well-documented history and legacy beyond the 1897 British violent invasion of Benin City and its palace. Their works position ancestry, divinities, and historical figures as anchors for understanding Benin’s evolving heritage. With this, they show that the iconography and culture of the kingdom of Benin and of the Edo people does not only carry deep roots, but is very much alive today.

Back to Benin: New Art, Ancient Legacy includes works by Leo Asemota, Minne Atairu, Victor Ehikhamenor, Favour Jonathan, Taiye Idahor, Osaru Obaseki, Enotie Ogbebor, Abraham Oghobase, Osaze Amadasun and Phil Omodamwen.  More information on the artists can be found here. 

“This exhibition shifts the conversation of absence to the one of creation. It shows how contemporary artists have been making anew. My work speaks to shared histories and collective memory and I am glad it will be in dialogue with other works from other fellow contemporary Edo artists.” Taiye Idahor

“This exhibition is a libation, paying homage to our ancestors, especially as a collective of artists, to critically examine what it means to us as Nigerians to have these objects returned to their original place of creation. The Benin bronzes emphasize a civilization that is sophisticated in its material culture, both culturally and spiritually. The works in the exhibition are a hymn to our ancestors and to the persistence of the land and the people.” Abraham Oghobase

The exhibition is accompanied by a two-day symposium in May 2026 (program and contributors to be announced), organized in collaboration with the Research Center for Material Culture (RCMC) in Leiden, and an extensive catalogue, with contributions by curator of the exhibition Aude Christel Mgba, Professor Kokunre Agbontaen-Eghafona, Osaisonor Godfrey Ekhator-Obogie, and artists Minne Atairu and Victor Ehikhamenor.