African Arts

In recent months, some writers such as James Cuno have been throwing about the accusation of nationalism as if it were such a bad phenomenon for culture or, indeed, as if it were incompatible with culture or somehow bad for cultural development. A comment by Kwame Opoku. [Full Text Article, pdf]

Many Europeans would agree that African art inspired Picasso, Juan Gris, Arman, Braque, Matisse, Kandinsky, Kirchner, Modigliani, Paul Klee, Moore and Giacometti and others but they do not realize or take into account that some of these masterpieces now held in Europe could also inspire young African artists who now have no chance of seeing the masterpieces of their culture. By Kwame Opoku. [Full Text Article]

Kwame Opoku comments on the “Songs of Praise” for the British Museum. We have witnessed within the last few days a spate of articles, all praising in fulsome language the British Museum and its director, Neil MacGregor. It can be assumed that the publication of these article within such a short period is no sheer coincidence but part of a carefully orchestrated campaign to boost the popularity of the British Museum and the prestige of its director. But why now? (more…)

Kwame Opoku reviews Ben Macintyre’s article “Let’s all have tickets to the universal museum”, published in Timesonline, July 10, 2008. He concludes that it is one of those articles appearing regularly in Western media, appearing to espouse an internationalism and a universalism that, at first sight would appeal to many persons. However, on reflection, one realizes that, perhaps without consciously desiring to do so, they propagate a very narrow vision of the world and are generally oblivious of the needs and feelings of other peoples and cultures in the world. (more…)

Kwame Opoku comments on the article “How one cultural vision has lessons for the whole world” by Tristram Hunt, a Lecturer in History at University of London. The mentioned article was published in the Observer, July 6, 2008. (more…)

Kwame Opoku critically looks at James Cuno’s recent statements regarding “credible museums” and “non-credible museums” and asks what precisely Cuno means by these terms remembering that recent events have shown that major and prestigious museums in the USA cannot be trusted to have acquired their antiquities in an entirely legal mode. (more…)

Boubacar Boris Diop rend hommage à Ousmane Sembène, qui nous a quittés le 9 juin 2007, sans avoir jamais assigné la moindre limite à son mépris du qu’en-dira-t-on. A quatre-vingt-cinq ans, il se sentait si bien dans sa peau, qu’il se faisait appeler par dérision, l’«Aîné des Anciens». Le fait est, cependant, qu’il a vécu très longtemps en réussissant à préserver sa jeunesse d’esprit. [Pambazuka]

In order to deny States the right to control excavations on their land and to prevent them from claiming ownership of artefacts found in their countries, James Cuno, Director of the Art Institute of Chicago, in his new book goes so far as to deny any continuity between the peoples of present States and those of ancient civilizations. [Full Text Article, pdf]

In the case of request for restitution of stolen objects in the British Museum, the question of legal ownership - a question which is fundamental to all claims of property - is not even posed. The main question here is whether the British Museum can afford to dispense with the object in question i.e. whether it can and will de-accession the object. By Kwame Opoku. [Full Text Article, pdf]

The exhibition, Benin: Kings and Rituals Court Arts from Nigeria, which has generated debates about restitution of stolen art goes to the Art Institute of Chicago. It is to be noted that the exhibition will not be seen in Nigeria. Kwame Opoku reflects on what kind of institution the Art Institute of Chicago is? [Full Text Article, pdf]

In a recent article in a leading German newspaper, Die Welt (Welt On Line), with the title “Farewell to intellectual Colonialism”, Wolf Lepenies, holder of the Peace Price of the German Book Industry, reminded me once again of the enormous difficulties Europeans, even intellectuals, seem to experience when they deal with African problems. By Kwame Opoku. [Full Text Article, pdf]

Youma Fall, membre de l’équipe de curateurs de la Biennale de l’Art Africain Contemporain Dak’ART, analyse dans le cadre du Forum de Dialogue d’AfricAvenir à Berlin la création africaine dans l’art contemporain et sa place dans les relations entre l’Afrique et l’Europe et le monde. (Introduction en allemand par Judith Strohm).

Should States and institutions holding stolen cultural property not voluntarily take action to return them? What then is the use of the repeated declarations on willingness to co-operate internationally when one is not even willing to consider restoring admittedly stolen items? In what will such States co-operate? By Kwame Opoku. [Full-Text-Aricle, pdf]

We have in previous articles raised the issue of copyright in stolen African cultural objects that are now in European and American museums and the profit the museums are making by the granting of permission to use images of these objects or to film them. (more…)

For those who are hoping that the British Museum may reconsider its position on the Parthenon/Elgin Marbles and adopt a position closer to the views of the United Nations and UNESCO and thereby contribute towards an acceptable solution to this decades-long dispute on the Parthenon Marbles, the statement issued by the British Museum almost a year ago, on 21 April 21 2007, must serve as a warning that such a change is not on the horizon. (more…)

It is becoming increasingly clear that many of the European museum directors are not very convinced of the soundness of the arguments they present in favour of the retention of stolen African cultural objects by their museums. Article by Kwame Opoku. (more…)

We are reading almost on a daily basis some comment or reply by a European or an American museum director in defence of the holding of stolen cultural objects or objects illegally exported from other countries and now in their museums. However, these defences seem so patently weak or unconvincing that one wonders how people in such positions can argue as they do. Article by Kwame Opoku. (more…)

In this article, Kwame Opoku asks: How did African objects like Queen Nefertiti or Idia come all the way to Europe and why have they not been returned? Most of the African art objects now in European and American museums came there as a result of some illegality or some dubious means during slavery, colonialism and our present neo-colonial times. [Full Text Article, pdf]

The exhibition, Benin, 600 years of Courtly Art from Nigeria, Museum of Ethnology, Berlin, has demonstrated that there are no unbridgeable obstacles to presenting an exhibition which fulfils the demands of a good ethnological presentation of art works and artefacts and also takes into account modern aesthetic requirements of the public that visits such exhibitions. By Kwame Opoku. (more…)

In his interview of January 27, 2008 with Richard Lacayo, “A Talk With: James Cuno”, Cuno, Director of the Art Institute of Chicago, makes many controversial statements. In the following, Kwame Opoku comments on a few of these points. (more…)

Kwame Opoku in this article analyses the the vocabulary and metaphors of war which others use as their daily vocabulary for communication on many matters, including issues related to culture, and poses the question whether Western commentators are willing and able to make the paradigmatic change required to fundamentally change the West’s relations to Africa. (more…)

Kwame Opoku argues for the restitution of stolen cultural and religious objects from Africa. He states: “The African demand for the return of the stolen cultural objects will not disappear for many of these objects are expressions of the deepest feelings of a way of life, an understanding of the universe and religious expressions.” [Full Text Article, pdf]

L’édition 2007 de la biennale internationale de Lyon conçue “comme un livre d’histoire et de géographie qui prendrait la forme d’un grand jeu”, a invité 120 joueurs (artistes et commissaires compris). Seuls deux d’entre eux sont originaires du continent africain. Commentaire argumenté de Yacouba Konaté, universitaire, critique d’art et commissaire d’expositions. [Africultures]

In this article Kwame Opoku critically examines Bernhard Müller’s article on the question of restitution in Le monde diplomatique of July 2007. (more…)

At first glance, one might well wonder if Les saignantes is a pedantic fantasy or if it really carries meaning. But, looking closer, its originality explodes, writes Olivier Barlet. [Africultures]