Twenty-eight bronzes, home.
Date
2026-07-09
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
X Corp.
Abstract
An archival press entry documenting the restitution of 28 Benin Bronzes from Swiss institutions to Nigeria, alongside the signing of a bilateral cultural agreement under the 1970 UNESCO Convention.
Description
A post published to X (Twitter) by the official Federal Ministry of Art, Culture, Tourism and the Creative Economy account (@Fmactce_Nigeria). The entry details the return of 28 historical Benin Bronzes looted from the Royal Palace of Benin during the 1897 British expedition, which had been held in Swiss collections for over a century. In March 2026, legal ownership was transferred back to Nigeria by three Swiss institutions: fourteen items from the University of Zurich's Ethnographic Museum, eleven from Museum Rietberg, and three from Geneva's Musée d'ethnographie. It further records that on June 29, 2026, Nigeria and Switzerland signed a bilateral agreement framed under the 1970 UNESCO Convention to govern future restitution queries regarding looted heritage between the two nations. The accompanying graphic displays photos of the returned artifacts alongside key explanatory panels. Engagement at time of capture: 0 replies, 3 reposts, 6 likes, 231 views.