The first batch of seven objects looted during the third Anglo-Asante War of 1874 has arrived in Ghana.
Arriving aboard a United Airlines flight, they will be formally presented to the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II on Thursday, February 8th - Citinewsroom reports
This presentation will take place at the commencement durbar marking the 150th anniversary of the war at Dwaberem, Manhyia Palace.
A delegation of three, led by Dr. Silvia Forni, Director of the Fowler Museum at the University of California, Los Angeles (where the objects resided for nearly 60 years), will make the official presentation.
The delegation also includes Dr. Rachel Raynor, Director of Registration and Collections, Dr. Erica Jones, Curator of the Africa Department, and Professor Kwesi Ampene, an external affiliate and Chair of the Music Department at Tufts University.
These returning objects were acquired by the Fowler Museum in 1965 from the Wellcome Trust, a major foundation operating the Wellcome Collection museum and library in Britain.
The Wellcome Collection was established in memory of Sir Henry Wellcome, a prominent British-American art collector and industrialist.
Discussions between the Fowler Museum and the Manhyia Palace regarding the objects’ return have been ongoing for several years.
Dr. Erica Jones, the Museum’s senior Africa curator, visited and met with the Asantehene last year.