Culture is as much important or more important than other concerns in Africa. News about the rise of African contemporary arts in music, painting, or the film industry might be encouraging and a source of much pride to the new generation of Africans. But the return of lost or stolen ancient African historical or cultural relics should trigger much more concern because these lost items represent Africa’s “lost soul” and Africa’s “lost spirits”. A nation or a continent that has lost some of its most important cultural souls: cannot be said to have achieved full independence from colonialism.
It is only functioning on borrowed time and borrowed identity that will sooner or later prove a house built on sand. It is only when a country or a continent has rediscovered its lost identity that it can be said to be culturally and spiritually free and capable of living its natural identity that will promote other engagements in politics or economics. It is in this context that we should appreciate the current trend in the global cultural arena where countries are fighting to recapture their lost identity by reclaiming their lost cultural or traditional relics.
It would not be erroneous or an exaggeration to look at the current year 2024, as the year that may go down in contemporary history something like the year that has heralded the launching of a widespread movement by Africa and other countries to get historical artifacts back to their countries of origin. Africa is leading the initiative. This year may even earn the accolade of ‘year of return’ or the ‘reversal of injustice’. The number of countries that are requesting the return of their stolen artifacts is rising. The latest country to do so is Italy. It may be the first European nation to announce it publicly. This is not only encouraging but also inspiring.
Italy was of course the weakest link in the colonial occupation of Africa, suffering a historic rebuff by Ethiopia at Adwa. That was the first victory by an African country scored against European power, if Italy could at all be called a powerful country. Mussolini had messed up with its politics and contributed to hastening the end of Italy’s adventure in Africa while the major powers were still in control of their African possessions. Italy was indeed the weakest link in the chain of colonialism, and it claimed a few petty possessions, like Italian Somaliland or Eritrea, alongside Germany which was a real global military and industrial power but not a colonial power.
The paradox of Italy’s weakness has continued to reverberate throughout the 20th century as many countries, and Ethiopia in particular, launched a campaign for the return of its stolen artifacts. Historical justice has never been meted out and in a comic twist of history; the country is now requesting the return of its own stolen artifacts. This has also the flair of ‘poetic justice’ being served at last. What is interesting in this narrative however is to know how, when, and by whom Italy’s artifacts were stolen.
A story recently appeared in The Guardian online, the digital version of the famous British newspaper well-known for its global coverage of artistic and cultural developments. According to the source, “Italy last Tuesday, celebrated the return of around 600 antiquities from the US, including ancient bronze statues, gold coins, mosaics and manuscripts valued at $65 million, that were looted years ago, sold to US museums galleries and collectors and recovered as a result of criminal investigations.”
The same sources maintained that “This was the latest presentation of Italy’s decades-long efforts to recover antiquities that were looted or stolen from its territory by “tomb raiders” and sold to antiquities dealers who often forged or fudged provenance records to resell the loot to high-end buyers’ auction houses and museum.”
There are two ways or methods of reclaiming stolen or looted relics once their destination is known. It is either through purchases that the items are returned to the country of origin of the looted or stolen objects or through official appeals and campaigns that are launched against a given government or institution. In the case of Italy as a wealthy country, it must have the financial muscle to buy back its stolen items or file legal proceedings to reclaim them from museums. Whether they are bought back or reclaimed legally, the return of the items is of course an event worth celebrating. Any country, whether rich or poor does not tolerate the theft of its history and culture and Italy could not be an exception.
The latest move by the Italian government to reclaim the country’s cultural relics testifies to the fact that consistent and long-term legal efforts supported through aggressive campaigns are bound to produce the desired results. It is also commendable that Italy’s latest action would give impetus to similar movements in other countries whether in Europe or Africa while bringing the issue to the attention of the international public.
The situation is however different in Africa where the governments may not have the financial resources to devote for the purchase of their own historical and cultural relics that were looted or sold by illegal traders in artifacts. There is no reason why other European countries would not follow suit even though it is extremely difficult and sometimes impossible to trace the whereabouts of the lost relics. Whatever the case may be, African countries or the African Union may find a feasible means of returning Africa’s lost cultural relics either by allocating a common fund for purchasing the relics in some cases or for launching and promoting the return of the relics that in itself requires operational funds money if such attempts are to be crowned with some degree of success.
Italy, being an old colonial power although economically and politically weaker than the other European colonialists, had been dragging its feet and took many decades to return the Aksum Obelisk to Ethiopia although the political symbolism of the obelisk had long faded and did not serve colonial or great ambitions of any kind.
It has taken many decades of concerted campaigns by Ethiopian cultural experts, intellectuals, and the governments of the time to secure the return of the obelisk against resistance by right-wing governments in Italy that directly or indirectly harbored nostalgia about Italy’s fascist past. Africa is still fighting to take control of its history and culture in the face of stiff resistance by the major stakeholders in the global markets for stolen ancient relics that are enjoying rising demands globally.
In my earlier article about the fate of Africa’s lost artifacts, I had written the following observation. The task of repatriation of African cultural heritages started a long time ago and is still progressing although slowly. This is because repatriation is being conducted based on individual or group initiatives and has seldom been conducted by the African Unity the single body with the relevant power and authority to conduct the work under its supervision.
And now a second generation of cultural activists seems to be knocking on the doors and making the same demands. It is to be noted that the first generation of activists was composed mainly of historians like the Pankhurst family and writers as well as the local intellectual community. The present generation which is yet on its way to emerging with the same demands is so far composed of artists and seems to have taken the initiative.
This is of course a positive development that should be supported by government authorities and the cultural establishment here at home. The nature of support may be in the form of institutionalization of the efforts being undertaken or coordination in the form of information and prioritization of the campaign. First and foremost, this demands a major forum, whether online or live interactions, for all the new stakeholders to discuss the matter and achieve consensus around the major issues.
As I wrote in my recent piece on the subject, African countries have more or less lost various historical and cultural relics that are now found in various European capitals some of which are still regarded as war trophies or war booties. We need to reclaim what was ours and let the old colonial wound heal and the ongoing legal and illegal business with looted African treasures that is promoted with the full knowledge and sometimes the direct or indirect cooperation from European authorities although they are denying that such activities are taking place in their turfs.
If Italy has joined the campaign for the return of lost or looted relics, there is no reason indeed why Africa cannot join the campaign and coordinate its activities with Europe and other countries that are interested in lending force to the restitution of lost histories, lost souls and lost identities.
BY MULUGETA GUDETA
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD FRIDAY 7 JUNE 2024
