British Museums Return Looted Treasures to Ghana's Asante Empire

Landmark move sidesteps U.K. repatriation laws, marking a new model for sharing contested colonial heritage.

British museums, the Victoria and Albert Museum and the British Museum, are returning looted treasures to Ghana's Asante Empire, marking the 150th anniversary of the British attack on the Asante.
The treasures, including gold regalia of profound cultural, historical, and spiritual significance to the Asante people, were taken as spoils of war and have since been part of the British collections.
The return of these treasures sidesteps U.K. laws that bar the repatriation of such cultural treasures, providing a new model for sharing contested colonial heritage.
The initiative is a renewable cultural partnership based on fostering knowledge sharing, collaboration, and the potential for fresh scholarship and conservation.
The returned items include a 'soul disk', a peace pipe, and seven sections of sheet-gold ornaments, representing only a small portion of the Asante objects held by British museums and private collectors around the world.