Barnaby Phillips is the author of Loot: Britain and the Benin Bronzes (Oneworld, 2021).

Will replicas tempt museums to return looted objects more quickly?

The Chrysler Museum of Art has given a looted monolith back to Nigeria and received a facsimile in exchange. Will other institutions follow suit?

26 Jun 2023
Oba Ewuare II (right), receiving restituted Benin Bronzes from Aberdeen and Cambridge universities in a ceremony in February 2022.

Are frictions in Nigeria jeopardising the return of the Benin Bronzes?

With cracks appearing in the relationships of institutions in Nigeria, Barnaby Phillips wonders where the returned Benin Bronzes are going to end up

28 Apr 2022
Detail of a 17th-century plaque depicting a junior court official in the Kingdom of Benin – one of two to be returned to Nigeria by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

The Met ought to have returned two stolen Benin Bronzes years ago

The museum has agreed to give back two plaques in its collection that were taken illegally from Nigeria after 1960. Why now?

17 Jun 2021