Barnaby Phillips
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'The African Kingdom of Gold: Britain & the Asante Treasure' 'Loot;Britain & Benin Bronzes' 'Another Man's War'. Don't use this site; try barnabyphillips.com
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Articles by Barnaby Phillips
The stolen disc was hiding in plain sight
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‘Visitors expressed bewilderment that the British had only loaned back the items’
Ayuda Buscar en la ayuda Buscar en la ayuda
The Institute of Art & Law
Switzerland became the latest country to return Benin Bronzes looted by the British in 1897, with a ceremony in Zurich on 20 March in which three museums – the University of Zurich’s Ethnographic Museum (VMZ), the Rietberg Museum of Zurich (MRZ) and the Ethnographic Museum of Geneva (MEG) – transferred ownership of 28 objects in total, of which 18 will be taken to Nigeria in June of this year.
The African Kingdom of Gold: Britain and the Asante Treasure
British traveller Thomas Bowdich was dazzled when he visited Kumasi, the capital of the West African kingdom of Asante, in 1817. The streets were as crowded as London’s Cheapside, Bowdich thought, as tens of thousands of soldiers bearing gold-edged weapons gathered for a display organised by the Asante king. Flanked by an array of nobles, the king or Asantehene sat under a sea of silk umbrellas, each broad enough to shield thirty people from the sun.
Royal grumble
Ayuda Buscar en la ayuda Buscar en la ayuda Royal grumble Autores: Barnaby Phillips Localización: Apollo: The international magazine of arts, ISSN 0003-6536, Vol. 203, Nº. 748, 2026, págs. 28-30 Idioma: inglés Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...) Resumen The first exhibition at Nigeria’s Museum of West African Art should have been cause for celebration. Instead, it was marred by violent protests. What went wrong? And what does this have to do with the famous Benin Bronzes?
Celebrating the king banished by the British
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Celebrating the king banished by the British
The field outside the royal palace in the Ghanaian city of Kumasi was filled with an exuberant crowd, celebrating the return 100 years ago of an exiled king. Prempeh was the Asante king, or "Asantehene", of the late 19th Century who resisted British demands that his territory be swallowed up into the expanding Gold Coast protectorate.
Ghana, Nigeria and the quest for UK looted treasure
Artefacts looted by the British in the colonial era have been returned to Ghana and are already on public view. So why is it taking Nigeria so long to put its returned treasures on display? A convoy sped along the busy road from Ghana’s capital, Accra, to the central city of Kumasi on 12 April, carrying an unusual and highly valuable cargo. A police motorcycle cleared the road with its flashing blue lights and blaring siren.
Can Digital Benin Reconnect Future Nigerians With Their History?
The new database is not a pro-restitution platform – and some unresolved quandaries remain – but the process of return will surely accelerate In 2019, I trawled round Benin City and its surrounding villages with the historian Godfrey Ekhator-Obogie. Godfrey is Edo, the indigenous people of the Benin Kingdom in southern Nigeria. He was a resourceful, thoughtful and humorous companion. We retraced the journey of the infamous British military expedition of 1897, which conquered Benin.
Ife head: Why UK police are holding a priceless sculpture
British police are keeping a stolen statue worth millions of dollars in their custody as a dispute rages between a Belgian antique dealer and Nigerian museum over its ownership, writes Barnaby Phillips. The 24th of January 2017 was a cold, foggy day in London. At midday, John Axford of the auctioneers Woolley and Wallis, was in his office in upmarket Mayfair, waiting to meet a visitor from Belgium who wanted to show him a sculpture. “He produced this particularly beautiful piece,” said Mr Axford.
Loot
‘Gripping…a must read.’ – FT ‘[A] balanced reconstruction of the Benin saga and probes the difficult choices facing European – and Nigerian – museums… Phillips excels at tracing the roundabout ways in which objects could find their way into museums.’ – TLS ‘The storytelling is crisp, balanced and authoritative… As Britain continues to twist on the thorny issue of racism…this book’s laser-sharp focus on the casenotes from one instance of colonial cruelty allows for a much more informed...
Nigerian head from Ife: Why UK police are holding a priceless sculpture
y midday, John Axford, of auctioneers Woolley and Wallis, was in his office in upscale Mayfair, waiting to meet a Belgian visitor who wanted to show him a sculpture. “He produced this particularly beautiful piece,” Mr. Axford said. It was a head cast in bronze, which Mr Axford recognized as coming from Ife, a Yoruba kingdom in what is now southwest Nigeria. The original bronze heads from Ife, of which only about 20 survive, are thought to be around 700 years old.
Formation
What do you get when dare-devil jihadists, mad English missionaries, and proud, stubborn warring natives meet in a clash? Nigeria. Formation: The Making of Nigeria from Jihad to Amalgamation tracks the unlikely series of events and characters that turned a collection of disparate nations into a British colony in 1914. But the story of Nigeria’s formation begins much earlier, in 1804, when the jihadists launched their attack on countries along the Niger river.
Adewale Maja-Pearce
In February 1897, the year of Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee, a British expeditionary force sacked the ancient city of Benin. They exiled the oba, or ruler, Ovonramwen, and carted away more than four thousand pieces of sculpture, known collectively as the Benin bronzes. The attack was prompted by the killing of several men belonging to a British expedition who had tried to enter Benin the previous year.
The Benin Bronzes Aren't Just Ancient History. Meet the Contemporary Casters Who Are Still Making Them Today
In his new book, Loot: Britain and the Benin Bronzes, Barnaby Phillips, a journalist specializing in African affairs, looks at the past and future of the contested sculptures, thousands of which were stolen during a 19th-century punitive British raid of the Benin Royal Palace in modern-day Nigeria. In this excerpt, Phillips visits contemporary casters who are still making bronzes using ancient techniques, but largely working from images, given that their heritage is held in museums abroad.
How a New Nigerian Museum Can Help Repatriate the Benin Bronzes
When the British invaded the in 1897, they ransacked the palace and looted thousands of metal and ivory sculptures and carvings collectively known as the Benin Bronzes. But they could not erase all traces of an ancient civilisation. Benin City, the kingdom’s historic capital in what is today southern Nigeria, is still ringed by a series of earth walls and moats, which date back to the 13th century.
Loot
‘A fascinating and timely book.’ William Boyd ‘Gripping…a must read.’ FT ‘Compelling…humane, reasonable, and ultimately optimistic.’ Evening Standard ‘[A] valuable guide to a complex narrative.’ The Times In 1897, Britain responded to the killing of a group of officials by razing an empire to the ground. The men had been travelling to the ancient Kingdom of Benin, in what is now Nigeria, when they were ambushed and killed by local soldiers.
The art dealer, the £10m Benin Bronze and the Holocaust
One morning in April 2016, a woman walked into Barclays Bank on London’s exclusive Park Lane, to retrieve a mysterious object that had been locked in the vaults for 63 years. Attendants ushered her downstairs. Three men waited upstairs, perched anxiously on an uncomfortable sofa, watching customers go about their business. Twenty minutes later the woman appeared, carrying something covered in an old dishcloth. She unwrapped it, and everyone gasped.
Another Man's War
It is 1941. We are in the Yoruba town of Owo, a model colonial town in South West Nigeria. Can you hear it? The British army’s bugle? It is blowing. Dispirited by academic scores too low for the exalted studies of his dreams, Isaac Fadoyebo is almost 18 when he joins the Royal West African Frontier Force.
Greece's Herculean economic task
It's easy to be confused over Greece's economic situation. On the day that Dutch Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem warned Europe was "running out of patience" with Greece for its failure to implement reforms, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Athens' progress had been "remarkable". Greece predicts the economy will return to growth in 2014 after six years of recession, but economists believe it will continue until 2015. Reality has invariably turned out to be worse than the forecast.
Whatever happened to privacy?
Are the powerful and famous entitled to private opinions on matters in the public interest? It is an old question of course, but one that has been avidly debated again this week. Here in Britain, Prince Charles, the heir to the throne, got in hot water when he compared Vladimir Putin to Adolf Hitler, in what he thought was a private conversation in Canada with a Polish war refugee. Cue outrage from some in Britain, and more significantly, from Moscow itself.
Lampedusa: A magnet for migrants
Lampedusa is a rather surreal place. From a roof-top in the pretty little harbour - full of bobbing white fishing boats in a dark blue sea - we watched the Coast guards bring in another group of tired and frightened African migrants that they had rescued 100 miles to the south. Besides me, two elegant Italian women in bikinis soaked up the last of the autumn sun, oblivious to the drama below.
Is Suarez World Cup 'bite' such a big deal?
I don't think I've bitten someone (in anger at least) since I was about six years old. But I'm curious about the reaction to the latest Luis Suarez misdemeanour. Why is biting perceived as so much more reprehensible than some of the other unpleasant acts that take place on a football pitch?
The Ukrainian Spring
The people of Donetsk are enjoying the spring sunshine. Trees are bursting with blossom and new growth. In the parks, and by the roadside, are regimented rows of tulips- loud reds and pinks. The opera house round the corner from my hotel is showing 'Turandot' and 'Aida' tickets cost the equivalent of 6 US dollars. For the most part, life in this city goes on as normal.
Remembering D-Day 70 years on
It was, according to this week's Paris Match, 'le bel eté de 1944' - the sweet summer of 1944. The black and white photo on the cover shows US soldiers being embraced by smiling French girls. Seventy years on from D-Day, the operation to liberate Europe from Nazi Germany, the atmosphere in Normandy is both festive, and heavy with nostalgia. Villages are gaily festooned with French, US, British and Canadian flags.
Ukraine's tipping point
Two days ago I was cowering from police gunfire in central Kiev. Now, the police are nowhere to be seen. A funeral procession winds its way from Independence Square. Coffins are held aloft, faces stream with tears. If this is victory, it has come at a very heavy cost. The old Ukrainian government has collapsed. President Viktor Yanukovich is on the run.
War, tragedy, and the power of memory
Are Nigerians afraid of their own history? And can an honest appraisal of the past help create greater consensus about the present? At a time when terrible violence continues in North East Nigeria (and indeed in other parts of the country), this seems a question worth asking, and is the premise of this piece by Nigerian author Chibundu Onuzo.
Another Man's War: The Story of a Burma Boy in Britain's Forgotten African Army: Barnaby Phillips: 9781780747118: Books
This book tells at least two stories, each wondrous and moving. In the first, Isaac, a young Nigerian, joins the British Army in World War Two. Frustrated by his inability to continue his education, he ends up fighting for the Empire half a world away as a medic. He is injured and left for dead after his first contact with the enemy: the Japanese in the jungles of Burma. But he is saved by the kindness of a Muslim villager, Shuyiman.
Central African Republic's miserable exodus
The killings continue in the Central African Republic. And what's left of the Muslim community makes desperate efforts to flee from the country. If you want an idea of how this miserable exodus plays out on the ground, read this powerful report from the LA Times. So the United Nations Security Council’s approval of a peacekeeping mission, which will take over from the beleaguered African Union force, is welcome news. But UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon first proposed such a force back in November.
Ten predictions for 2015
What are going to be some of the biggest news events of 2015? Here are 10 predictions for this year. But first, you might want to take a look at my predictions for 2014, written one year ago. I did very well, which can only mean one thing: I've used up all my luck, and you should treat the rather rash words written below with a large dose of scepticism. The usual caveat applies: my predictions do not necessarily reflect my personal preferences.
Going nowhere on Ukraine's roads
The man in the black T-shirt had a broken arm in a cast, but he still had an air of ruthless professionalism. He was the commander of the separatist checkpoint on the road into Horlivka, and he was busy, relaying a constant stream of orders. He carried an assault rifle, and ordered our driver to park our van by the side of the road. "Get out of your car, turn your phones off, don't film anything, and wait here," he said. There was no discussion.
Ten predictions for 2014
What are going to be the biggest news events of 2014? Below are 10 predictions for the coming year. But before going any further, you might want to read the similar column I wrote at this time last year, then looking ahead to 2013. It provides a salutary warning not to take my powers of prediction too seriously. You’ll see that I got many things wrong. I thought we would see a more effective Obama presidency, and the demise of President Bashar Al-Assad of Syria. We did not.
ANOTHER MAN'S WAR
One Nigerian soldier’s poignant history highlights the enormous and little-known contribution of West African troops in the British Army during World War II. The colliding forces of racism, colonialism and nationalism came to play in the extraordinary journey of Isaac Fadoyebo (1925-2012), from the Yoruba village of Emure-Ile.
Return to Berkovo, the village where Serbs and Albanians coexist in Kosovo
At first glance, there's nothing exceptional about the village of Berkovo. It's a sprawl of farm-houses and cottages in the rolling Kosovo countryside, with the distant backdrop of snow-capped mountains to the West, on the Albanian border. A fast road runs through Berkovo, and most cars do not stop. There are no shops, no restaurants, no old churches or mosques; nothing to divert the passing traveller. And yet, 10 years ago, this unremarkable place made a great impression on me.
Where is Northern Ireland, 20 years later?
The new Northern Ireland is a surprising place. An hour's drive north of Belfast, we find hundreds of tourists - from the US, China and elsewhere, taking selfies in an avenue of beech trees. This place is known as "the Dark Hedges", and the trees, with their twisting silvery branches, are indeed striking. But the reason the tourists have come here is because the Dark Hedges featured in the hit TV series, Game of Thrones. Northern Ireland's film industry is one of the successes of the past 20 years.
Exclusive: Evidence of ongoing torture of Sri Lankan Tamils
It's more than three years since President Maithripala Sirisena came to power in Sri Lanka.He took over from a government which was accused of human rights abuses during the war against Tamil separatists.Sirisena had promised a less authoritarian style of leadership.But Al Jazeera has seen disturbing evidence of continuing torture.Al Jazeera's Barnaby Phillips has this exclusive reports from London.
London sees a rise in knife crimes
Knife crime rose by more than a fifth in the UK last year, with a third of recorded offences taking place in London.Most of those killed in the capital were black teenagers. Three have died in the last week alone.Community leaders have pointed to funding drying up for community centres and other social support structures.Al Jazeera's Barnaby Phillips reports from London, UK.
Oxfam managers grilled by UK MPs over sex scandal
Senior management at the charity Oxfam have been answering questions from British MPs in London. This follows allegations that its staff paid women in Haiti for sex in the wake of the 2010 earthquake.Oxfam's chief executive, Mark Goldring, has said the charity is now investigating a further 26 cases of alleged sexual abuse from around the world. Al Jazeera's Barnaby Phillips reports from London.
UK appoints minister for loneliness
The UK has appointed a Minister for Loneliness to help the vulnerable in society who feel isolated. It is estimated 200,000 older people in Britain had not had a conversation with a friend or relative in more than a month. And more than half of all over 75-year-olds live alone.
Museum of London marks 100 years of women's suffrage
This week marks 100 years since women won the right to vote in the UK. Activists at the forefront of the campaign were known as 'Suffragettes'.
London mosque attacker convicted of murder
The man who drove his van into a crowd outside a London mosque last year has been convicted of murder. One person was killed when Darren Osborne rammed his van into worshippers who were leaving Ramadan prayers in Finsbury Park. Al Jazeera's Barnaby Phillips reports from London.
UK seeks to boost trade with China
British Prime Minister Theresa May is on her way to China for a visit intended to boost trade between the countries. She is taking a large delegation of manufacturers, bankers and heads of service industries with her. But the visit is happening with May weak at home and a leak of internal British government documents showing worries that Brexit will damage the economy. Al Jazeera's Barnaby Phillips reports from Yorkshire.
Scottish community fights for right to buy island on sale
Ulva, a remote Scottish island, is up for sale, and the government is deciding whether to give the local community the right to buy it, instead of it being sold on the open market. Land ownership in Scotland is a sensitive issue, with a few wealthy people owning half of all private land. But the government wants to change that. Al Jazeera's Barnaby Phillips reports from Ulva.
Ownership battle heats up over Scottish island of Ulva
I visited the island of Ulva on a day when snow and strong winds blew off the Atlantic, interspersed with pale sunshine that lit up the surrounding mountains on the much larger neighbouring island of Mull. It's a beautiful, inhospitable and remote part of the British Isles. You might wonder who would choose to live here, and the answer is few people do. Ulva's human community is dying. In the mid-19th century it was home to 600 people. Today, just six remain. Rebecca Munro is one of them.
Report: Women groped at men-only charity gala in London
In the UK, a report on an undercover investigation into sexual harassment at a men-only charity fundraising gala has caused outrage. The Financial Times sent two reporters undercover to work as hostesses at the annual Presidents Club charity dinner in London's Dorchester Hotel, attended by senior figures from the world of business, politics and finance.
Ten predictions for 2018
Before we get on to what might happen in 2018, take a quick look back at my 2017 predictions, written this time a year ago. As ever, I've ended up with plenty of egg on my face. No, Francois Fillon did not become the president of France, and Theresa May did call an early general election in the UK, although she must wish she had not. Angela Merkel is looking considerably weaker, and Jeremy Corbyn considerably more comfortable, than I imagined 12 months ago.
Returning to Kenya's Nairobi after 40 years
Nairobi, Kenya - How do you find your way around a town you knew 40 years ago? Not easy under any circumstances, and even in a place that made such a lasting impression. In practice, the challenge quickly became almost impossible. The town in question, Nairobi, 1975 population circa 500,000, has become a huge city, 2017 population circa 4.5 million. As I drove, well, crawled really, given the suffocating traffic, around Kenya's capital this week, I often felt disoriented.
Kenya's opposition hopeful after nullification of president's win
Kenya's opposition hopeful after nullification of president's win Presidential candidates in Kenya are back on the campaign trail after the Supreme Court annulled last month's result and ordered a new election. Presidential candidates in Kenya are back on the campaign trail after the Supreme Court annulled last month's result and ordered a new election. Opposition supporters were still celebrating as they attended a rally for former prime minister Raila Odinga in Nairobi.
Seeking solace in wake of the Westminster attack
"We know a day like that will come again, we just hope it's not too serious when it does." How many times have I heard friends, colleagues, politicians and even senior policemen in London voice such a sentiment over the years? Ever since the July 2005 attacks on Tubes and buses that left 56 dead, we Londoners have suspected our luck would run out one day. I say "luck", but that is deeply unfair to the police and intelligence services, who've foiled so many plots in the intervening years.
Interfaith weddings at UK Sikh temples hit by protests
Minority at a crossroads as community members threaten to continue protests against mixed marriages at gurdwaras. Wolverhampton, England - For decades, Sikh temples in the United Kingdom have hosted mixed-faith weddings. But the practice is causing serious tension in some communities. There have been protests forcing couples to cancel or postpone their ceremonies. There are around 500,000 Sikhs in Britain.
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