THE OWNERSHIP OF COLONIAL ART AND ITS CULTURAL IMPLICATIONS
LUCIA MUGENA
AAD DISSERTATION 2020/21
Extracts from Lucia Mugena, The Ownership of Colonial Arts and Its Cultural Implications
Dissertation Studio 12 Material Culture and Transcultural Exchanges Tutor: Wessie Ling
School of Art, Architecture and Design London Metropolitan University 2021
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CONTENTS
A HISTORY OF COLONIALISM
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CULTURAL IMPLICATIONS
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IN DEFENCE OF THE COLONISER
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THE QUESTION OF RESTITUITION
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CONCLUSION
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Benin City British Belgium France Portugal Spain Germany Italy Ethiopia Liberia
Illustration 1: Map of Africa in 1913
CULTURAL IMPLICATIONS After the Second World War the main focus of the British Government was to focus on rebuilding Britain and its economy after the calamities the war brought. In addition to this, views on colonialism were changing resulting in several uprisings and resistances in colonies world-wide. Furthermore, ideologies relating to colonialism were being questioned by large organisations such as the United Nations which had been recently formed in 1945 at the end of the war. Nigeria gained independence from Britain on the 1st of October 1960, at the same time it joined the Commonwealth. The Commonwealth is a collection of 54 countries, nearly all of which being former colonies of the British Empire. The head of the Commonwealth is the British monarch. During the time of decolonisation, Britain was able to maintain a relationship with Nigeria as well as their other ex-colonial territories. Some scholars argue that this intention to maintain influence over ex-colonies, was a move away from colonisation and into neo-colonialism. Neo-colonialism is defined as “the continuation of the nexus between the former colonial power and the former colony through some form of informal control or link”.10 The continued involvement of the British post Nigerian independence feeds into the cultural identity of Nigerians. This is the shared identity which belongs to a group of people. The continued ties with the British ex-colonisers through neo-colonialism can work to eradicate the indigenous cultural identity of Nigerians. It subliminally tells Nigerians that they continue to fall underneath the British ‘Sphere of Influence’. This term was used during the ‘Scramble for Africa’ and refers to an area in which another country has interest or influence over, without the need for physical or formal authority. This is eerily reminiscent to the early days of colonialism where favoured influential natives were put in power to act in liaison to the colonial county. Through neo-colonialism, Britain can maintain domination over Nigeria that was implemented during the colonial period. The ownership of Nigerian art is an attribute of this. Through the ownership and removal of a former colonies’ art they remove that countries history. By the British Museums own account “these plaques were key historic records for the Benin Court and kingdom, enabling illustration of historic practices and traditions”.11 The implications of removing a culture’s history allows for following generations to not know their own culture and subscribe to British culture rather than their own Nigerian culture. This replacement of indigenous culture with that of a dominant civilisations culture is referred to as cultural imperialism, this can also be done through education, religion, politics etc.
Olakunle A. Lawal, ‘British Commercial Interests and the Decolonization Process in Nigeria, 1950-60’, African Economic History, 22, 1994, pg.93 <https://doi.org/10.2307/3601669>. 11 British Museum, ‘Benin Bronzes’. 10
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“the elimination of individual and group memory is an important underlying cause of cultural heritage destruction. The destruction of cultural memory through destruction of the material culture of the past and present has been used to oppress individuals, groups and communities in order to maintain power.” 12 Nigerian culture is eradicated through the removal of their cultural and historic artefacts, such as the Benin Bronzes. The implications of this are the elimination of the collective memory of Nigerians, in particular the Edo people of Benin, who the artefacts were taken from. Collective memory is often passed down from one generation to the next however due to the cultural imperialism taking place following the attack on the Kingdom of Benin in 1897 this was prevented. This results in the weakening of cultural identity which informs the self-perception of a group of people. The impact of the removal of indigenous culture, memory and therefore identity, makes it easier for the imposing power to enforce and maintain power amongst a group of people. Historically, this has been a strategy used to the advantage of ruling powers over indigenous cultures because their culture is often in alliance with resistance to foreign domination.13 This results in the ruling power to favour the elimination of indigenous culture as it makes it easier to enforce control. During the colonial period, which roughly lasted from 1880 to 1975, cultural artefacts as well as human beings were taken from their homeland and paraded in western European museums.14 This removal of items from the colonies works towards the desecration of their culture. The consequence of a cultureless nation is the loss of cultural heritage for its future generations. This heritage is a cultural production that informs and develops meaning and principles for individuals and groups.15 The lack of culture is the lack of unity and social cohesion, this made it easier for the colonisers to maintain their power. In addition to this, through holding a nations cultural artefact you hold onto their history and heritage. This gave the colonisers the power to own the narrative of this heritage and justify their actions through the incorrect portrayal of these artefacts. In colonial era Congo the story of the ‘Leopard Men’, a group of native Congolese men who were cannibals, acted as proof of Africans ‘savage’ nature and so justified the presence of Belgians (who had colonised Congo). However, this story was vastly over exaggerated because it was not understood and so allowed for speculation and hearsay to mix into the story.16 The Leopard Man sculpture by Paul Wissaert commissioned by the Royal Museum for Central Africa in Belgium in 1912.17 It portrays an African man dressed as a leopard preying on a sleeping woman. The mistruth of the leopard men continued into literature aimed at children, spreading a harmful ideology onto future generations.
Veysel Apaydin, ‘Introduction:: Why Cultural Memory and Heritage?’, in Critical Perspectives on Cultural Memory and Heritage, ed. by Veysel Apaydin, Construction, Transformation and Destruction (UCL Press, 2020), pp. 01 <https://doi.org/10.2307/j. ctv13xpsfp.6>. 13 Thele Moema, ‘Cultural Imperialism’, 1979, 41. 14 Erin Blakemore, ‘What Is Colonialism?’, Culture, 2019 <https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/topics/reference/colonialism/> [accessed 2 December 2020]. 15 Apaydin, 3. 16 Vicky L. M. Van Bockhaven, ‘The Leopard Men of the Eastern Congo (ca. 1890-1940): History and Colonial Representation’, 2013 <https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/29106246.pdf>. 17 Van Bockhaven, 206. 12
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Illustration 3: The Leopard Man Sculpture by Paul Wissaert (Mayo, 2018)
Illustration 4: ‘Tarzan and the Leopard Men’ book cover (Burroughs, 1935)
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Illustration 5: Page 31 from ‘Tintin in the Congo’ (Herge, 1946)
Illustration 4 shows native Africans dressed in leopard skin attacking the book’s central character, Tarzan. These show the African as animalistic predators. Illustration 5 is page 31 out of the ‘Tintin in Congo’ cartoon book series, it displays a Congolese man dressed up as a leopard getting ready to attack the book’s protagonist, Tintin.
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The mis-telling of the Leopard Man in western books such as Tintin in Congo and Tarzan show how colonisers extracted cultural properties such as stories and physical artefacts from their native lands and to western museums. These items hold important cultural significance which would be beneficial to the inheritors, the native society in which they were removed form. Instead, they are in the hands of Europeans who use them to provide evidence for their false notions. ‘Tintin in Congo’ and ‘Tarzan and the Leopard Men’ further express the falsehood and misrepresentation of the Congolese and in extension, Africans. It was made to seem to Belgians as though this was the lifestyle of all Congolese, justifying the need of European civilisations’ involvement in Africa. Director of the Royal Museum for Central Africa in Belgium, Guido Gryseels, shares his experience growing up in Belgium in relation to colonisation “When we went to school, a lot of our teachers were former missionaries so the education that we got was that Belgium brought civilisation to Congo – that we did nothing but good in Congo”.18 Colonialism in Africa was an incredibly brutal and cruel venture it included genocides, mutilation, rape, murder, famines and forced labour. The treatment of the Congolese under King Leopold II was so egregious, even by the profoundly cruel European colonial standards that it was condemned by other European colonists, who themselves partook in unethical atrocities across their African colonies.19 At the Berlin Conference in 1884, King Leopold II was granted ability to forge a personal colony in Africa, what is present day the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), which he named the ‘Congo Free State’. Over the next 45 years the population is thought to have reduced from 20 million to 8 million, due to the harsh forced labour.20 During this time King Leopold II built the Africa Museum, in which he transported 267 Congolese people to be paraded as exhibits in the human zoo at his new museum.21 This museum was later renamed as the Royal Museum for Central Africa. In 1908 the Belgian State annexed the Congo Free State from King Leopold due to pressure from other European countries, where it was renamed the Belgian Congo.22 In 1960 the Congolese gained their independence from Belgium. Art is an extension of culture, it is a form of expression and documenting history. During colonialism, European colonialists influenced the culture of their African colonies, which in turn affected contemporary African art. African art following colonialism had become a mixture of African culture and European influence. Pre-colonialism art in Africa represented religious and social practices, such as the Benin Bronzes. During colonialism, colonisers came along side with missionaries in attempts to convert locals from their native religions to Christianity which contributed to the cultural imperialism that was widespread during colonialism. The art that represented the native religions were supressed and overtime new art reflected the Christian faith by holding Christian symbols. The action of replacing native religions with European religions is a form of cultural imperialism.
Patrick Smyth, ‘Belgium Opens up to Horrors of Its Colonial Past’, The Irish Times, 2018 <https://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/ europe/belgium-opens-up-to-horrors-of-its-colonial-past-1.3650778> [accessed 2 December 2020]. 19 Georgina Rannard and Eve Webster, ‘Leopold II: Belgium “wakes up” to Its Bloody Colonial Past’, BBC News, 2020 <https:// www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-53017188> [accessed 8 March 2021]. 20 Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica, ‘Congo Free State | Historical State, Africa’, Encyclopedia Britannica, 1999 <https://www. britannica.com/place/Congo-Free-State> [accessed 8 March 2021]. 21 Rannard and Webster, Leopold II 22 Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica, Congo Free State 18
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Missionaries created fine art schools, this altered the contemporary African art making it a “hybrid form of African art that heavily reflected their traditional culture with the culture of their colonisers”.23 The infiltration on the art practices of African colonies impacted their way of documenting cultural and social history. The Benin Bronzes, made centuries before colonisation, show us how the people of that time lived and thought, if they were made under the scrutiny of an external ruling power, they would have told a different story. The fine art institutions run by European missionaries censored native history and culture. These are the same missionaries who the director of the Royal Museum for Central Africa was taught by at school. This pro-state propaganda works hand in hand with the miseducation of future Belgians. This is similar and opposite to the effects of cultural imperialism in the African colonies. In the colonies the cultural imperialism removed their history, changing their collective memory which in turn weakened the cultural identity and sowed seeds of internalised hatred of the nation. Whereas, in Belgium, and likely other European ex-colonist countries, blind patriotism re-wrote their history which altered their collective memory resulting in a strengthened cultural identity and ideas of nationalism. Making them believe they “did nothing but good in Congo” irrespective of the obvious abominations Belgium had committed across the Democratic Republic of Congo.24 The Leopard Man statue remains in the museum to this day (as of December 2020). This shows the implications of a dominant culture holding smaller nations’ cultural heritage in artefacts, they have the power to misinform generations to come.
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Jayna Clemens, ‘Impact of Colonialism on Contemporary African Art’, 2015, 06. Smyth, Belgium Opens up
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