Expansion of the Ethnologisches Museum’s Benin Exhibition and Symposium in April 2024

05.04.2024
Ethnologisches Museum

The Kingdom of Benin’s historical entanglements and their significance with regards to current restitution debates: from 20 April 2024, two new vitrines will go on display at the Humboldt Forum as part of the process-informed Benin exhibition at the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin’s Ethnologisches Museum. As well as this, a public symposium to mark the occasion on 19 April 2024 will grapple with the issue of how objects from Benin are currently being exhibited in museums in Europe, Nigeria and the United States.

Exhibition on Art from Benin to Be Expanded

The Ethnologisches Museum’s completely reconceptualised Benin exhibition housed at the Humboldt Forum opened in September 2022, draws on the debates surrounding the restitution of the “Benin bronzes” that erupted shortly before the show’s opening and covers the history of the bronzes’ collection and reception between Benin and Berlin. Together with Nigerian partners, the original plan for the display was completely overhauled and reworked. The exhibition tells the story of the Kingdom of Benin and its conquest, and in addition to the historic exhibits, showcases works by contemporary artists such as films, textiles, or objects cast in bronze that are still produced today using traditional methods.

Moving forward, two new vitrines will broaden the exhibition’s overview of the historic kingdom: one will focus on Benin’s pre-colonial exchanges with neighbouring kingdoms, which are reflected with particular vividness in its art, while the other shows how (pre-)colonial entanglements – especially the trade in enslaved peoples – continue to impact even the most recent debates concerning restitution.

Opening with Curator-Led Tour on 20 April 2024

The opening of the expanded exhibition featuring the two new vitrines will take place on Saturday, 20 April 2024 at 3 pm with a curator-led tour that is open to the public. The meeting point for the tour is Room 210 of the Humboldt Forum, located on the second floor of the Benin exhibition.

Symposium Exhibiting Difficult Histories: Benin Objects and their Potential for New Forms of Representation to Take Place on 19 April 2024

To mark the unveiling of the two new vitrines, the international symposium Exhibiting Difficult Histories: Benin Objects and their Potential for New Forms of Representation will take place on Friday, 19 April 2024 from 11 am to 6 pm at the Humboldt Forum. The symposium is free to attend and open to the public and will grapple with the issue of how objects from Benin are currently being exhibited in Europe, Nigeria and the United States. The symposium will be held in English.

Further information on the symposium programme