Sweden Returns Benin Bronzes to Nigeria and Sacred Kallawaya Objects to Bolivia
The Swedish government is set to return artefacts from the historic Kingdom of Benin to Nigeria and objects belonging to Bolivia’s Kallawaya people, including human remains, in two separate restitution agreements
Bronze mask for belt, collected by William Downing Webster in Benin City, aquired from Åke Sjögren to the Museum of Ethnography in Stockholm, 1900. Photo: Rose-Marie Westling, courtesy of the Etnografiskia museet, Stockholm
This week, the Swedish government announced the final phase of two restitution processes to Nigeria and Bolivia.
In Lagos, Swedish officials have formalised the transfer of 40 artefacts looted from the Kingdom of Benin by British forces during the Benin punitive expedition of 1897. The return, set to be received by a delegation of the Benin Palace in Lagos, is one of the largest repatriations of Benin Bronzes to date. As part of the agreement, six of the objects will remain in Sweden on a ten-year loan.
In parallel, 77 objects belonging to Bolivia’s Kallawaya people, including human remains, are being transported from Sweden to the Archaeological Museum in La Paz. The objects entered the collection of the Museum of World Culture in Gothenburg in 1970. They were later recognised as having been taken out of Bolivia illegally and the Swedish formally agreed to their return in 2023.
Although Sweden doesn’t have a blanket policy regarding restitution and instead examines each request on a case-by-case basis according to its National Heritage Board, the transfers show a growing international recognition of the responsibilities of museums and governments to address colonial-era acquisitions and return cultural heritage pieces to their communities of origin.
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