“HToday is a great day for the Ashanti, a great day for the Black African continent and the spirits are back among us,” Ashanti King Otumfuo Osi Tutu II said at the Manhia Palace Museum in Kumasi today.
The exhibition presents for the first time many objects from the looted Ashanti royal court during the colonial period, now on loan from the British Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum for six years.
Among the objects are the 300-year-old Mponponso sword, which was used in the swearing-in ceremonies of the kings of the Ashanti Empire (XVII-XIX) – a political entity that existed in a territory that today includes Togo and Ghana – the Asantehene, and a gold peace pipe.
In January, the two British museums announced that gold and silver objects associated with the Ashanti royal court would be displayed in Kumasi under long-term loan.
“These artefacts will be on display in Ghana for the first time in over 150 years,” they added.
The exhibition's opening comes at a time of growing debate and pressure on European and American museums and institutions to reclaim heritage from many countries under the rule of former colonial powers, such as the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Belgium. .
In Portugal, President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa said last week that the country must lead the process of redressing the effects of the colonial era and suggested debt forgiveness, cooperation and financing as examples.
On the 27th, on the sidelines of the inauguration of the Museum of National Resistance and Independence in Beniche, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa argued that throughout his presidency, Portugal should “lead the process” in dialogue with these countries.
“We cannot put this under the carpet or in a drawer. We have an obligation to pilot this process because if we don't lead it, what happened to the countries that took over and were colonial powers. X years of losing the ability to dialogue and understand former colonies,” he warned.
Questioned by journalists, the President argued that the current government should continue the process of surveying the heritage assets of former colonies in Portugal.
Three days earlier, at a dinner with foreign correspondents in Portugal, the head of state had already acknowledged Portugal's responsibilities for crimes committed during the colonial period, suggesting reparations for past wrongs.
After Marcelo Rebelo de Souza's statements, the government said in a statement that “any process or plan of specific actions existed and was not in question” to compensate for the Portuguese colonial past and argued that it would be led. “Same line” as previous administrators.
In an interview with the weekly Expresso in November 2022 regarding the return of heritage originating from former colonies, the then Minister of Culture, Pedro Adao e Silva, said that “the effective way to deal with this problem is reflection, prudence and some reservation”, before highlighting: “The worst way to deal with this problem is is to create a polarized public debate”.
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