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Agony and ecstasy mask11/20/2023 ![]() Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. To date, England have won the Football world cup only once in 1966. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. Agony and ecstasy go hand in hand when following the England team. Copyright of Art, Antiquity & Law is the property of Institute of Art & Law and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission.They thus provide ammunition to those who refuse to consider return on any ground whatsoever. Greed and corruption make them enter into untenable and iniquitous agreements. They are compromised and therefore incapable of decisive action in these matters. In another instance, a Permanent Secretary of Nigeria's Ministry of Culture wrote the foreword to a book featuring looted Nigerian antiquities, and another head of Nigeria's National Museums contributed an article to the same book. A Nigerian head of the National Museums attended the opening ceremony of an exhibition where obviously looted Nigerian objects formed part of the exhibition. Finally, it is lamented that too many national authorities and museum professionals in Africa have been almost criminally negligent in failing to pursue the repatriation of expropriated, stolen or illegally exported antiquities. The museum professionals first canvassed retention through the idea of the so-called 'universal museum', when that started to unravel, they are now talking about travelling exhibitions that will never get to Africa. The point will be made that the former colonial powers and other rich European countries, particularly their museum professionals are loath to part with anything even if they remain locked up in stores and warehouses. El Negro was away from Africa for 170 years. The Zimbabwe Bird was returned almost 100 years following its plunder. The Obelisk of Aksum, was returned after almost 70 years. The statue of the Lion of Judah was in Rome for 30 years. The stolen vigango memorials returned from the United States after 22 years. Negotiations for the return of the Makonde Mask to Tanzania lasted twenty years. It is not for nothing that the Greeks gave us the marathon race. The paper argues that African countries seeking the return of cultural objects must have the endurance of the long distance runner as typified by the persistence of Greece for the return of the Parthenon Sculptures. ![]() In this paper there are case studies of returns to sub-Saharan Africa including: the Lion of Judah statue, Ethiopian Tabots, the Aksum Obelisk, the Zimbabwe Bird, Vigango Wooden Memorials, the Makonde Mask, the Afo-A-Kom sculpture and El Negro. But having regard to the scale of colonial plunder in sub-Saharan Africa, what has been returned is just the tip of the iceberg. Examples include the return of objects by Belgium to the Democratic Republic of Congo, by the Netherlands to Indonesia, and by Australia and New Zealand to Papua New Guinea. Abstract: The end of colonisation has witnessed the repatriation of cultural objects from the former colonial powers to the former colonised countries.
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