Dr. Ivor Agyemang-Duah, a well-known Ghanaian historian, museum economist and development specialist has revealed details of successful discussions with the British Museum and the Victoria & Albert Museum to repatriate Asante regalia to Ghana’s Manhyia Palace.
In an unprecedented cultural partnership, the Manhyia Palace Museum, the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, and the British Museum have revealed plans to showcase gold and silver regalia associated with the Asante royal court at the Palace Museum in Kumasi.
This display is part of a significant long-term loan commitment by the V&A and the British Museum.
The announcement represents a historic milestone as many of these regal treasures, unseen in Ghana for almost 150 years, will return to their roots. Dr. Ivor Agyemang-Duah recounted the negotiations, indicating that they took place during the Asantehene’s visit to London in 2023.
In an interview with Citi FM, Dr. Agyemang-Duah raised concerns about the British Museum’s regalia from previous Asante emperors.
“This issue of bringing back these items [artefacts] has been on the drawing board for over half a century. And it’s not just an immediate concern. It has been a concern of about three or four past Asantehenes. But this year is critical in the sense that it must be the 150 years of the war, 100 years since the return of Agyemang Prempeh from exile in Seychelles and 25 years of the current Asantehene Osei Tutu II on the stool.
“While in London in May 2023, having official discussions with directors of these museums, he [Asantehene] reopened negotiations and asked two of us [myself and British professor of African and Asante history, Malcolm McLeod], to help in the technical decisions that will be reached. We have been working on it for the last nine months and that brings us where we are today.” he added.
The Ghanaian historian stated that the artefacts would be sorted to determine which ones were robbed, claiming that those from the Victoria & Albert Museum were stolen.
When asked why the stolen regalia were given on loan to Manhyia Palace, he emphasized the importance of the rigorous laws controlling the two institutions.
“The historical antecedents of that bring itself to the question you asked, the moral rights. But there is also the other side to deal with, the laws of antiquity in the UK. These are national museums governed by very strict laws. And these laws do not permit them to give back permanently objects that were looted, stolen or whatever. And so that has also been the constraining factor in all those discussions that have on over the last 50 years,” he said.
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