Asantehene seeks return of Asante artefacts from British Museum
The Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, has stepped up negotiations for the possible return of Ashanti regalia items taken from Kumasi by the British army, after the Ashanti war against the British in 1874, also known as the Battle of Amoaful.
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Last Thursday, he held discussions with the leadership of the British Museum in London on the matter.
The British Museum has a collection of treasures, including those taken away from the palace of the Asantehene during the War of 1874.
Otumfuo Osei Tutu also requested areas of contemporary cultural cooperation in the management and technical assistance with the Manhyia Palace Museum.
Technical framework
Explaining what transpired at the meeting, a co-advisor of the Asantehene on technical matters relating to the return of the valuables, Ivor Agyeman-Duah, said the British Museum agreed to study and work on a technical framework by the Asantehene’s advisors.
The other advisor on the technical matters is a former Keeper of Ethnography at the museum and previously Professor of History and Vice Principal of the University of Glasgow, Malcolm McLeod.
Mr Agyeman-Duah, a historian, museum economist and development specialist, said it was further agreed that an expired memorandum of understanding (MoU) of collaboration between the Manhyia Palace and the British Museum would be reviewed and a loaning agreement reached for some of the items to be sent to Kumasi for the Asantehene’s silver jubilee next year.
The Director of the British Museum, Dr Hartwig Fischer; the Deputy Director, Dr Jonathan Williams; the Head of the Africa Department, Sam Nixon, and the Curator, Julie Hudson, welcomed the Asantehene to the museum.
Otumfuo was given a private tour of an exhibition, Luxury and Power-Persia to Greece which centred on the Greco-Persian Wars.
Museum
Otumfuo Osei Tutu explained that the Manhyia Palace Museum, which had been undergoing major restructuring and expansion, provided an avenue for profit-making.
He said the museum, like all major museums, needed other collections to occasionally strengthen patronage and growth.
That, he said, was notwithstanding the laws of antiquity in Britain.
August visit
Dr Fischer, who led the British Museum team in discussions, described the Asantehene’s visit as an august one.
He gave an assurance that his outfit would work towards Otumfuo’s wishes through structured laws.
Dr Fischer had in 1994 led the establishment of the Manhyia Palace Museum.
The technical discussions, which started last week in London, would also lead to visitations to the Manhyia Palace Museum, object identification at the British Museum for loan agreements and other legal implications, as the British Museum Act did not allow permanent removal of items from its collection.
The British Museum, led by Dr Fischer, would also be involved in the Manhyia Palace Museum reopening and anniversary.
Victoria
On behalf of the Manhyia Palace, Mr Agyeman-Duah was also to continue discussions with the Director of the world’s leading art and design institution, the Victoria and Albert Museum’s (V&A), Dr Tristram Hunt in London.
A bilateral agreement with the Palace would be signed between Manhyia and V&A before February 2024.
The V&A, which also has a collection of Asante regalia, is developing a programme concept for February 2024, which would mark the 150th anniversary of the 1874 Anglo-Asante War.
A group of Ghanaian and British artists would jointly be engaged in a memorial in London.
Next year also marks the 100th anniversary of the return of Asantehene Agyeman Prempeh I from exile in the Seychelles where he spent 27 years.
Background
In the V&A museum’s annual evaluation for 2021–2022, Dr Hunt hinted at the possible return of Asante regalia in the museum.
“We are optimistic that a new partnership model can forge a potential pathway for these important artefacts to be on display in Ghana in the coming years,” he wrote.