UK Museums Loan Looted Asante Gold Artifacts to Ghana

The British Museum and the Victoria & Albert Museum will return 32 gold and silver artifacts to Ghana on a three-year loan, marking the first time many of the items will be seen in Ghana in 150 years.

• The British Museum and the Victoria & Albert Museum in London have agreed to a three-year loan of over 30 gold and silver artifacts to Ghana.
• The artifacts, including Asante royal regalia, were looted from the Asante royal court during the Anglo-Asante wars in the 19th century.
• The loan agreement was made not with the Ghanaian government, but with Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, the current Asante king.
• This loan agreement sidesteps UK laws that prohibit the return of cultural treasures to their countries of origin.
• The items will be displayed at the Manhyia Palace Museum in Kumasi, the capital of the Asante region, as part of the silver jubilee of the Asantehene.

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