International

A handover ceremony has taken place to mark the repatriation of ancestral remains from two museums in Oxford to Aboriginal communities in Australia.

The Museum's Association reports that the Pitt Rivers Museum and Oxford University Museum of Natural History are returning the remains of 11 Aboriginal ancestors.

The return is part of an agreement between the museums and the Australian Government to repatriate 30 ancestors in total.

Laura Van Broekhoven, director of the Pitt Rivers Museum, said: “For the Pitt Rivers Museum, ceremonies like these introduce new chapters in our history as a museum. 

"We want to thank Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders for their leadership in this process; we are pleased that the ancestors are finally able to return home. We are grateful to join this Indigenous-led process that works towards healing.”

Manchester Museum has announced a large-scale repatriation of artefacts from its collection.

The programme will see 174 cultural heritage items from its collection returned to the Aboriginal Anindilyakwa community of Australia’s Northern Territory.

Three women from the Aboriginal Anindilyakwa community have travelled to Manchester to receive the articles. Manchester Museum hopes that the repatriation process will help Anindilyakwa descendants connect with their heritage.

The artefacts include boomerangs, Ajamurnda (bark baskets), Enungkuwa (fishing spears), Errumungkwa (armbands), and a group of dolls made from shells.

The second round of the Four Nations International Fund has been confirmed, with applications due to open in September.

The fund is designed to support innovative models of international cultural exchange. It is open to people working in the arts and creative industries in the UK who wish to collaborate with their counterparts in Europe and beyond.

A total budget of £240,000 has been allocated for this round. Applicants can request up to £7,500 for in-person, digital or hybrid activity, including exchanges, residencies, partnership development, co-creation and networking.

The fund is backed by co-investment from Arts Council England, Arts Council Northern Ireland, Arts Council Wales/Wales Arts International and Creative Scotland. 

The first round of the fund supported 38 projects involving 82 British creatives working with 48 international partners based in more than 24 countries. The artist-led proposals that received funding addressed key issues facing society, including injustice, gender identity and environmental sustainability.

“The development of art and culture thrives on international collaboration and exchange,” said Dana MacLeod, Executive Director of Arts, Communities and Inclusion at Creative Scotland.

“Artists and creative practitioners derive inspiration, opportunities to grow and develop practice through the sharing of ideas and explore new ways of working, as well as reaching new audiences.”

She said that the maximum funding amount available had been increased in this round “to encourage fair remunerations for artists and professionals involved in these projects, to better enable more sustainable approaches to international travel and collaboration, and to generally reflect the increased costs of working internationally”.

In light of the impacts of Brexit and the pandemic, as well as the climate emergency, she said that by working together the arts councils and agencies “can more effectively help address challenges for artists and creative practitioners across the UK and enable them to connect with their international counterparts”.

The ongoing negotiations surrounding the restitution of the Benin Bronzes from European museums may be complicated by the Nigerian government’s decision to officially recognise the Oba of Benin as their owner, it has been suggested.

The transfer of ownership of the artefacts, which were looted in the 19th Century, was announced via a Presidential Declaration made in March.

The proposed law states that “all artefacts must be delivered to the Oba of Benin who exercises the rights of original owner. This covers the ones already repatriated and those yet to be repatriated,” a report on the Arise news website said. 

“For many Edo people, it is right and proper that such objects go back to the Oba as they were looted from his great-great-grandfather,” Barnaby Phillips, author of Loot: Britain and the Benin Bronzes, told the Art Newspaper.

But he said the decision had caused confusion among European museums currently negotiating deals with Nigeria’s National Commission for Museums and Monuments (NCMM). The organisation itself was also “blindsided” by the transfer of ownership, he added.

The NCMM is responsible for coordinating restitution efforts with Western institutions. 

Godwin Obaseki, the local Edo State governor, has backed plans to house the bronzes in the Edo Museum of Western African Art, due to open in stages from next year, but Oba wants the bronzes to be held by his family in a royal museum or palace, the Art Newspaper reported.