Otumfuo discusses return of Asante artefacts in London

As part of his working visit to London, the Asantehene Otumfuo, Osei Tutu II on Thursday, May 11, 2023, held discussions with the leadership of the British Museum about the possible return of regalia items taken from Ashanti, particularly after the Ashanti War of 1874 with the British also known as the Battle of Amoaful.

He also requested for areas of contemporary cultural cooperation in management and technical assistance with the Manhyia Palace Museum.

The British Museum Director, the German art historian, Dr Hartwig Fischer, the Deputy Director, Dr Jonathan Williams, and the Head of Africa Department and Curator, Sam Nixon and Julie Hudson welcomed the Asantehene to the Museum.

Manhyia Museum restructuring
Otumfuo Osei Tutu explained that the Manhyia Museum which is undergoing major restructuring and expansion is of profit-making. He said the museum, like all major museums, needed other collections to occasionally strengthen patronage and growth. That is notwithstanding the laws of antiquity in Britain even as long-time negotiations continue.

Asantehene’s wishes
Dr Fischer who led the British Museum team in discussions, described Otumfuo’s visit as an august one. He gave an assurance that his outfit would work towards the Asantehene’s wishes through the structured laws.

An expired MoU would be reviewed on time for loaning regalia items for the Asantehene’s silver jubilee in Kumasi next year.

Technical work
The British Museum also agreed to study and work on a technical framework by two of the Asantehene’s advisors: the former Keeper of Ethnography at the British Museum and previously Professor of History and Vice Principal of the University of Glasgow, Malcolm McLeod, and historian, museum economist and development specialist, Ivor Agyeman-Duah.

The technical discussions which started this week in London would also lead to visitations to the Manhyia Palace Museum, object identification at the British Museum for loan agreements and other legal implications, as the British Museum Act does not allow permanent removal of items from its collection.

Reopening Manhyia Museum
The British Museum would also be involved in the Manhyia Palace Museum reopening and anniversary. The Asantehene was given a private tour of the current exhibition, Luxury and Power- Persia to Greece which centres on the Greco-Persian Wars.

Victoria & Albert Museum
Mr Agyeman-Duah continued discussions with the Director of the world’s leading art and design institution, the Victoria and Albert Museum’s (V&A), Dr Tristram Hunt in London.

A bilateral agreement with the Manhyia Palace would be signed before February 2024.

British invasion of Kumasi
In 1872, the British colony of Gold Coast grew as tensions with the Asante Kingdom to the north worsened. British troops arrived in Kumasi, the Asante capital, in January 1874.

The then Asantehene Kofi Karikari’s palace was ransacked and destroyed by Queen Victoria’s troops. To make up for the expense of the retaliatory raid, the British sought a nominal 50,000 ounces of gold.

The Asante king‘s insignia of authority were taken away by the confiscation of the golden regalia. Long-lasting tensions led to the confiscation of additional valuables during subsequent wars in 1896 and 1900.

Anniversaries
The V&A which has a collection of Asante regalia is developing a programme concept for next February which would mark the 150th year of the 1874 War.

A group of Ghanaian and British artists would jointly be engaged in a memorial in London.

Next year also marks the centenary anniversary of the return of exile from Seychelles of Asantehene Nana Agyeman Prempeh I after 27 years.

In 1976, the then Asantehene Otumfuo Opoku Ware II, during the centenary of the 1874 war, made a request for the return of the regalia to the Director of the then British Museum Sir John Pope-Hennessy who together with the Trustees later organised the major exhibition, Asante Kingdom of Gold which was opened by Otumfuo Opoku Ware II and the Duke of Gloucester which also travelled to the Natural History Museum in New York.

The British Museum, as part of the cooperation with Manhyia Palace at the time, trained museum managers in Kumasi and Ghana which has today led to the major British Museum International programme in Africa.