What the British Empire does best is burn & loot—that too is spiritual warfare.
When you control the spiritual narrative of a people, you control them forever.
When you control the spiritual narrative of a people, you control them forever.
A majority of looted Benin bronzes are pieces of ancestral altars and spiritual items. It’s not just ‘treasures of war’, it’s textbook spiritual warfare that is executed during the colonialism.
When you take people’s spiritual items, you take away their protection and strength⤵️
When you take people’s spiritual items, you take away their protection and strength⤵️
And you create vulnerability amongst people who are trying to survive foreign invaders. This leads to subordination, which results in easier religious conversion to Christianity and the abandonment of ancestral, indigenous spirituality.
Spiritual warfare is insidious.
Spiritual warfare is insidious.
It is also insidious to note the amount of Bronzes the British Museum has on display (AND in storage).
Artifacts that are not properly spiritually maintained let alone displayed in its truest form.
Artifacts that are not properly spiritually maintained let alone displayed in its truest form.
Fun fact about me: when I’m not on Twitter I’m doing research in African spiritual art with the under-text of repatriation.
It not just the Benin Bronzes, but many African spiritual artifacts are held in improper hostage by the art industrial system and private institutions.
It not just the Benin Bronzes, but many African spiritual artifacts are held in improper hostage by the art industrial system and private institutions.
Returning looted items is repairing lost cultural histories *and* restoring spiritual balance simultaneously.
@britishmuseum when I finish this PhD, I’m coming for you. And that’s on Sabongida-Ora.
@britishmuseum when I finish this PhD, I’m coming for you. And that’s on Sabongida-Ora.
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