INTRODUCTION

During the reign of Oba Ovonramwen, Benin City, the administrative centre of the kingdom of Benin (formerly Benin Empire) was invaded, looted and destroyed by the British. The attack on the kingdom was ostensibly response to the defeat of a previous attempt by palace knights. The main motivation however was for the English to finally put out of the way the legitimate kingdom and nation standing in the way of colonization of ‘The Niger Delta Region’, also termed ‘the South Protectorate’. The year was 1896, the European TransAtlantic Slave Trade was no longer profitable and its masters were all 7 of them vying to become colonial masters of African resources. The scramble was about to happen. The assault on Benin by British forces became known euphemistically as ‘The Benin Expedition of 1897’. Much of the art and ancient artefacts, including the now famous plaques, were either destroyed or looted by the British forces, and the long journey of the matter of the return of the stolen arts of Benin, started in 1932 by Oba Akenzua II, became know as 'The Return of Stolen Artefacts of Benin' aka the #BeninBronzes. 

None of the above was included in our educational curriculum as children growing up in Nigeria. 

In 2010, we opened the first Architecture of Unforgetting on Pinterest. At the time the page was called ‘Architecture of Loss’. Loss, or Unforgetting? 

Alongside other historical findings, this page is about the history of, and in particular, the art, culture and architecture, what was looted and destroyed, in 1897, what is remembered, including the much needed matter of the return of what was looted. 

/AOU

Head of Esigie