The treasures, which arrived on a United Airlines aircraft, will be formally presented to the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, on Thursday, February 8, 2024.
A delegation of three people, led by Dr. Silvia Forni, Director of the Fowler Museum at the University of California, Los Angeles (where the artefacts have been housed for nearly 60 years), will make the official presentation at the commencement durbar commemorating the 150th anniversary of the war at Dwaberem, Manhyia Palace.
Dr. Forni is accompanied by 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 Tufts University’s Music Department.
The Fowler Museum first bought the returned pieces from the Wellcome Trust in 1965.
The Wellcome Trust is a well-known nonprofit that runs the Wellcome Collection museum and library in Britain.
The Wellcome Collection celebrates Sir Henry Wellcome, a renowned British-American entrepreneur and art collector.
For numerous years, the Manhyia Palace and the Fowler Museum have been in constant communication over the repatriation of the items.
The artefacts’ ultimate permanent return was made possible by their departure from California, which was permitted by a CITES permit issued in December.
Historian Ivor Agyeman-Duah confirmed the details, attributing the decision to return to a shift in university policy on stolen property. This modified policy allows for the restoration of such artefacts to their original owners.
Furthermore, Mr. Agyeman-Duah revealed the development of a completely new paradigm for cross-cultural interaction.
This relationship will include the Fowler Museum at UCLA, the Manhyia Palace Museum, and Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology’s College of Art and Built Environment.
As envisioned by the Asantehene, who also serves as Chancellor of the University, this arrangement is a first step towards developing cross-cultural interaction.
The seven objects, dating back to the time of Asantehene Kofi Karkari in the 1840s, include an ornamental chair made of wood, brass, leather, and iron; ten large beads used as bracelets or anklets; strands of seed or bug-shaped beads; gold made of elephant hair, glass, and silver; a royal stool ornament; a royal necklace; and a royal stool ornament.
The seven relics being returned date back to the 1840s, before Asantehene Kofi Karkari.
They include an ornate chair made of wood, brass, leather, and iron, ten large beads used as anklets or bracelets, a string of beads fashioned like seeds or insects, gold, glass, and silver, an ornament for a royal stool, and a royal necklace.
