Overview

Walk into any European museum today and you will see the curated spoils of Empire. They sit behind plate glass: dignified, tastefully lit. Accompanying pieces of card offer a name, date and place of origin. They do not mention that the objects are all stolen. Few artefacts embody this history of rapacious and extractive colonialism better than the Benin Bronzes - a collection of thousands of metal plaques and sculptures depicting the history of the Royal Court of the Obas of Benin City, Nigeria. Pillaged during a British naval attack in 1897, the loot was passed on to Queen Victoria, the British Museum and countless private collections. The story of the Benin Bronzes sits at the heart of a heated debate about cultural restitution, repatriation and the decolonisation of museums. In The Brutish Museums, Dan Hicks makes a powerful case for the urgent return of such objects, as part of a wider project of addressing the outstanding debt of colonialism.

Full Product Details

Author:   Dan Hicks
Publisher:   Pluto Press
Imprint:   Pluto Press
Weight:   0.626kg
ISBN:  

9780745341767

ISBN 10:   0745341764
Pages:   336
Publication Date:   20 August 2020
Audience:   General/trade ,  General
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print  
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Table of Contents

Preface 1. The Gun That Shoots Twice 2. A Theory of Taking 3. Necrography 4. Projection 5. World War Zero 6. Corporate-Militarist Colonialism 7. War on Terror 8. The Benin-Niger-Soudan Expedition 9. The Sacking of Benin City 10. Democide 11. Iconoclasm 12. Looting 13. Necrography 14. 'The Museum of Weapons, etc 15. Chronopolitics 16. A Declaration of War 17. A Negative Moment 18. Ten Thousand Unfinished Events Afterword: A Decade of Returns Appendix One: Provisional List of the Worldwide Locations Of Benin Plaques Looted in 1897 Appendix Two: Sources of Benin Objects in the Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford (the 'first collection' Appendix Three: Sources of Benin Objects in the former Pitt-Rivers Museum, Farnham ('the second collection') Appendix Four: Current Location of Benin Objects previously in the Pitt-Rivers Museum at Farnham (the 'Second Collection') Appendix Five: A Provisional List of Museums, Galleries and Collections that May Currently Hold Objects Looted from Benin City in 1897. References

Reviews

'Dan, your words brought tears to my eyes. I salute you' -- MC Hammer 'Destined to become an essential text' -- Bryan Appleyard, Sunday Times 'A real game-changer' -- Fiammetta Rocco, The Economist 'A startling act of conscience. An important book which could overturn what people have felt about British history, empire, civilisation, Africa, and African art. It is with books like this that cultures are saved, by beginning truthfully to face the suppressed and brutal past. It has fired a powerful shot into the debate about cultural restitution. You will never see many European museums in the same way again. Books like this give one hope that a new future is possible.' -- Ben Okri, poet and writer 'In his passionate, personal, and, yes, political account, Dan Hicks transforms our understanding of the looting of Benin. This book shows why being against violence now more than ever means repatriating stolen royal and sacred objects and restoring stolen memories' -- Nicholas Mirzoeff, Professor in the Department of Media, Culture and Communication at New York University 'Unflinching, elegantly written and passionately argued, this is a call to action' -- Benedicte Savoy, Professor of Art History at Technische University 'An epiphanic book for many generations to come' -- Victor Ehikhamenor, visual artist and writer

'A real game-changer' -- The Economist 'If you care about museums and the world, read this book' -- New York Times 'Best Art Books' 2020 'Hicks's urgent, lucid, and brilliantly enraged book feels like a long-awaited treatise on justice' -- Coco Fusco, New York Review of Books 'Unsparing ... especially timely ... his book invites readers to help break the impasse by joining the movement for restitution.' -- CNN 'The book is a vital call to action: part historical investigation, part manifesto, demanding the reader do away with the existing brutish museums of the title and find a new way for them to exist' -- Charlotte Lydia Riley, Guardian 'An epiphanic book for many generations to come' -- Victor Ehikhamenor, visual artist and writer 'Unflinching, elegantly written and passionately argued, this is a call to action' -- Benedicte Savoy, Professor of Art History at Technische University 'In his passionate, personal, and, yes, political account, Dan Hicks transforms our understanding of the looting of Benin. This book shows why being against violence now more than ever means repatriating stolen royal and sacred objects and restoring stolen memories' -- Nicholas Mirzoeff, Professor in the Department of Media, Culture and Communication at New York University 'A startling act of conscience. An important book which could overturn what people have felt about British history, empire, civilisation, Africa, and African art. It is with books like this that cultures are saved, by beginning truthfully to face the suppressed and brutal past. It has fired a powerful shot into the debate about cultural restitution. You will never see many European museums in the same way again. Books like this give one hope that a new future is possible.' -- Ben Okri, poet and writer 'Destined to become an essential text' -- Bryan Appleyard, Sunday Times 'Dan, your words brought tears to my eyes. I salute you' -- MC Hammer 'A powerful call for western museums to return the objects looted in the violent days of empire' -- Guardian 'A masterful condemnation and inspiring call to action' -- Los Angeles Review of Books 'Timely' -- Nature 'The Brutish Museums shows that colonial violence is unfinished, and as it persists in the present, it cannot be relativized.' -- Ana Lucia Araujo, Public Books 'The Brutish Museums leaves no stone unturned' -- Financial Times 'The Brutish Museums argues, persuasively, that the corporate-militaristic pillage behind Europe's encyclopedic collections is not a simple matter of possession, but a systematic extension of warfare across time' -- The Baffler 'A bombshell book' -- Los Angeles Times

'A real game-changer' -- The Economist 'If you care about museums and the world, read this book' -- New York Times 'Best Art Books' 2020 'Hicks’s urgent, lucid, and brilliantly enraged book feels like a long-awaited treatise on justice' -- Coco Fusco, New York Review of Books 'Unsparing ... especially timely ... his book invites readers to help break the impasse by joining the movement for restitution.' -- CNN 'The book is a vital call to action: part historical investigation, part manifesto, demanding the reader do away with the existing “brutish museums” of the title and find a new way for them to exist' -- Charlotte Lydia Riley, Guardian 'A startling act of conscience. An important book which could overturn what people have felt about British history, empire, civilisation, Africa, and African art. It is with books like this that cultures are saved, by beginning truthfully to face the suppressed and brutal past. It has fired a powerful shot into the debate about cultural restitution. You will never see many European museums in the same way again. Books like this give one hope that a new future is possible.' -- Ben Okri, poet and writer 'An epiphanic book for many generations to come' -- Victor Ehikhamenor, visual artist and writer 'Unflinching, elegantly written and passionately argued, this is a call to action' -- Bénédicte Savoy, Professor of Art History at Technische University 'In his passionate, personal, and, yes, political account, Dan Hicks transforms our understanding of the looting of Benin. This book shows why being against violence now more than ever means repatriating stolen royal and sacred objects and restoring stolen memories' -- Nicholas Mirzoeff, Professor in the Department of Media, Culture and Communication at New York University 'Destined to become an essential text' -- Bryan Appleyard, Sunday Times 'Dan, your words brought tears to my eyes. I salute you' -- MC Hammer 'A masterful condemnation and inspiring call to action' -- Los Angeles Review of Books 'Timely' -- Nature 'The Brutish Museums shows that colonial violence is unfinished, and as it persists in the present, it cannot be relativized.' -- Ana Lucia Araujo, Public Books 'The Brutish Museums leaves no stone unturned' -- Financial Times 'The Brutish Museums argues, persuasively, that the corporate-militaristic pillage behind Europe’s encyclopedic collections is not a simple matter of possession, but a systematic extension of warfare across time' -- The Baffler 'A bombshell book' -- Los Angeles Times ‘After this book, there can be no more false justifications for holding Benin Bronzes in museums outside of Africa’ -- Africa is a Country ‘Presents a powerful case for restitution of looted objects, and hostile responses to it highlight enduring attachments to imperialism' -- ‘Counterfire’

'A startling act of conscience. An important book which could overturn what people have felt about British history, empire, civilisation, Africa and African art. It is with books like this that cultures are saved, by beginning truthfully to face the suppressed and brutal past' -- Ben Okri, poet and writer 'In his passionate, personal, and, yes, political account, Dan Hicks transforms our understanding of the looting of Benin. This book shows why being against violence now more than ever means repatriating stolen royal and sacred objects and restoring stolen memories' -- Nicholas Mirzoeff, Professor in the Department of Media, Culture and Communication at New York University 'Unflinching, elegantly written and passionately argued, this is a call to action' -- Benedicte Savoy, Professor of Art History at Technische University 'An epiphanic book for many generations to come' -- Victor Ehikhamenor, visual artist and writer

'The Brutish Museums shows that colonial violence is unfinished, and as it persists in the present, it cannot be relativized.' -- Ana Lucia Araujo, Public Books 'Hicks's urgent, lucid, and brilliantly enraged book feels like a long-awaited treatise on justice' -- Coco Fusco, New York Review of Books 'Timely' -- Nature 'Unsparing ... especially timely ... his book invites readers to help break the impasse by joining the movement for restitution.' -- CNN 'A masterful condemnation and inspiring call to action' -- Los Angeles Review of Books 'A powerful call for western museums to return the objects looted in the violent days of empire' -- Guardian 'Dan, your words brought tears to my eyes. I salute you' -- MC Hammer 'Destined to become an essential text' -- Bryan Appleyard, Sunday Times 'A real game-changer' -- Fiammetta Rocco, The Economist 'A startling act of conscience. An important book which could overturn what people have felt about British history, empire, civilisation, Africa, and African art. It is with books like this that cultures are saved, by beginning truthfully to face the suppressed and brutal past. It has fired a powerful shot into the debate about cultural restitution. You will never see many European museums in the same way again. Books like this give one hope that a new future is possible.' -- Ben Okri, poet and writer 'In his passionate, personal, and, yes, political account, Dan Hicks transforms our understanding of the looting of Benin. This book shows why being against violence now more than ever means repatriating stolen royal and sacred objects and restoring stolen memories' -- Nicholas Mirzoeff, Professor in the Department of Media, Culture and Communication at New York University 'Unflinching, elegantly written and passionately argued, this is a call to action' -- Benedicte Savoy, Professor of Art History at Technische University 'An epiphanic book for many generations to come' -- Victor Ehikhamenor, visual artist and writer 'The book is a vital call to action: part historical investigation, part manifesto, demanding the reader do away with the existing brutish museums of the title and find a new way for them to exist' -- Charlotte Lydia Riley, Guardian 'If you care about museums and the world, read this book' -- New York Times 'Best Art Books' 2020

Author Information

Dan Hicks is Professor of Contemporary Archaeology at the University of Oxford, Curator at the Pitt Rivers Museum and a Fellow of St Cross College, Oxford. He is also a Non-Executive Director and Trustee of Museum of London Archaeology. He was awarded the 2017 Rivers Memorial Medal by the Royal Anthropological Institute. He has published eight books including The Cambridge Companion to Historical Archaeology (CUP, 2006).

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