However, in the case of the Benin Bronzes, selling the artifacts couldn’t be further from Stanley’s mission. Layiwola, whose guidance was critical to the success of the restitution process, introduced ...

NPR's Scott Simon speaks to director Mati Diop about her new documentary, "Dahomey." The film follows the return of royal treasures plundered by French forces. The documentary film "Dahomey" is a ...

during excavations at the site by archaeologists from France and Benin. According to local lore, the tomb within the Abomey palace complex — built in the 19th century by King Ghezo of Dahomey ...

Peju Layiwola is a curator at the museum, who attended a ceremony at the royal palace in Benin City to return the art to the oba, or king, of Benin. “The palace still exists. The lineage and the ...

An ivory pendant mask (front and side view) from the sixteenth century depicts Idia, mother of Oba Esigie, the king of Benin from around 1504 to 1550. Immediately to the south of Ovonramwen Square ...

One of the great changes in artistic vision of the 20th century was the shift from the classical ideals of Greek and Roman statuary to a larger view that accepted primitive art as no less human ...

walked up to Oba (King) Ewuare II’s throne to hand him two works of art that had been stolen over 100 years before. The ceremony at the Royal Palace of the Oba of Benin in Nigeria marked the ...

The Benin branch of the Mohammed VI Foundation of African Ulema held the sixth edition of its Quran memorization and recitation competition on Saturday in Cotonou, as part of a regional initiative to ...

N’Ivbiotor also sang to the tunes of royal drummers, prayed for the foremost king and proclaimed peace in Benin Kingdom. Royal guilds, including Ifiento and Emehe, gave a good account of ...

or king of Benin, to be the rightful owner of the returning bronzes. Ihenacho says that MOWAA is “available as and when we are needed” to conserve or exhibit the bronzes. “But we didn’t ...