1897. Thousands of brass and bronze sculptures were plundered from its royal palace and traded as artworks, ending up in collections around the world. Nigeria now wants these items to be recognised as plundered art. It is less well known that Swiss museums also house 100 or so items suspected to have come from Benin. Eight Swiss museums have come together under the leadership of Zurich’s Rietberg Museum to form the Swiss Benin Initiative (SBI). Funded by the Federal Office of Culture, the SBI seeks to ensure transparency for researchers as well as open dialogue with Nigeria. A key element in how we deal with cultural property is indeed dialogue. Speaking on French-language Swiss radio back in 2017 after French President Emmanuel Macron’s pledge to return African treasures, the Genevabased anthropologist and museologist Bansoa Sigam stressed that the global north and south needed to become equal partners. Decolonisation meant “being honest with your own history and finding solutions”. This could lead to the “common global history” advocated by Swiss historian Bernhard C. Schär, who believes it is a mistake to view and teach the history of Europe in isolation. History is always the result of interaction between people, he says. Repatriation is not the only solution According to estimates, over 90 per cent of Africa’s cultural heritage was looted during the colonial era and is currently held not in Africa but in Europe and the United States. Are all these treasures now to be returned? No, says Joachim Sieber, repatriation is not the only solution. For example, another option is for cultural property to be returned and then repurchased or loaned out on a long-term basis. Museums can also label exhibited artefacts with the names of their original owners. What matters, he adds, is finding a solution in consulAccording to the Federal Office of Culture, cultural property is a concrete witness of culture and history, holding a special place for the identity of the individual as well as the community as a whole. It defines the self-image and social cohesion of a society. This is why protecting cultural heritage today is one of the important duties of a state. tation and cooperation with the countries of origin. To return to the original example in this article, there is, therefore, a distinct possibility that the Egyptian government will not even want Shep-en-Isis back and instead make an alternative amicable arrangement with the Catholic administration in St Gallen. In the meantime, Shep-en-Isis currently attracts some 150,000 visitors a year. Every evening, staff at the Abbey Library honour her with an end-of-day ritual. Once all visitors have left the building, they cover the glass coffin with a white veil and recite the mummy’s name – an act of remembrance and a gesture of respect for the Egyptian concept of eternal life. Switzerland was also the victim of a cultural heist Rich countries are the “usual suspects” when it comes to plundered art, but Switzerland itself was once the victim of a heist. The Capuchin friars of Fribourg have kept a beady eye on their valuable library for centuries but were evidently looking the other way when one of the books in their safekeeping, the “Ship of Fools” dating from the 15th century, was stolen during the Second World War. This exceptional work, dating back to the early days of the printing press, resurfaced in 1945 at a New York City book dealer. It was later gifted to one of the world’s largest libraries, the Library of Congress in Washington. The friars were left empty-handed again in 1975, when a thief posing as a Vatican librarian made off with around 20 valuable old manuscripts. Like “Ship of Fools”, these works disappeared and were forgotten – until the beginning of the 2000s, when an employee of the Fribourg Cantonal and University Library (KUB) found out the following: firstly, that the stolen manuscripts had been sold at auctions in Munich in 1975 and 1976, and secondly, that the missing copy of “Ship of Fools” had been located in Washington. The KUB made subsequent enquiries to locate and recover the 20-odd stolen prints. At the end of 2022, the Library of Congress in Washington returned “Ship of Fools” to the canton of Fribourg. The book is now kept at the KUB, where it is available for students and scholars to view. (DLA) Further information (in German and French): revue.link/narrenschiff Published in Basel in 1494 and illustrated with woodcuts, “Ship of Fools” by the humanist Sebastian Brant is an allegorical poem satirising the weaknesses and vices of the time. Swiss Review / March 2023 / No.2 7
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