Stanisland Magazine

Following years of refusal to cooperate, British institutions finally agreed to send back looted artefacts stolen from Ghana’s Asante people.

Despite its origins in Ghana, the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) and The British Museum have decided to “loan” gold artefacts looted during the British colonial era. The objects are of cultural and historical importance to the Asante people (also known as Ashanti’). Most of the articles were stolen from their capital, Kumasi, following the 19th-century invasion of the region during the Anglo-Asante wars.

It is understood that 32 items will be loaned back to the country, with 17 from the V&A scheduled to be transported to Ghana, and 15 from The British Museum.

The agreement was initiated by a visit in May 2023, from the King of Asante, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II as part of a long-term loan deal. Since that time, talks have taken place between Ghanaian historian Ivor Agyeman-Duah and a British professor of African and Asante history, Malcolm McLeod.

The objects will be displayed at the Manhyia Palace Museum. Their return is part of a series of events to celebrate the silver jubilee of the Asantehene as well as commorations for the 150th anniversary of the Asante war which took place between 1873-74.

The V&A’s director Tristram Hunt commented on the loan saying: ”150 years after the attack on Kumasi and looting of
court regalia, the V&A is proud to be partnering with the Manhyia Palace Museum to display this important collection of Asante gold work. As part of our commitment to sharing collections with a colonial past, we are excited to see these items on public show, in Ghana, as part of Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II’s Silver Jubilee celebrations. We thank the Asantehene for his leadership, and look forward to further collaboration.”

The move has been welcomed by many as a prelude to further negotiations, though it remains to be seen whether the two London museums will build on their gesture, given the contentious nature in which the British Empire came to obtain Ghanian treasures.