“But those wise men have gone to the future. They will use their tears to paint. They will run mad and create something new.”
—Emose in One Can Only Hope and Wonder, 2023
In February 1897, British colonial troops conquered, destroyed, and looted the Kingdom of Benin, which had been defending itself for almost 500 years. Between 3,500 and 4,000 works of art were looted, about 40 percent of which ended up in the British Museum in London. The rest was auctioned off and a large part was purchased by German museums. The descendants of the Oba of Benin began demanding the return of these artifacts as early as the beginning of the 20th century. Nigeria has been making official demands for restitution to the Federal Republic of Germany since the country gained its independence in 1960. Self-assurance through one’s own history and culture was considered essential for building a strong sense of identity while founding an independent state. Until 2022, German museums had refused to return the more than 1,100 stolen works. Finally, 125 years after the looting, Germany is returning some of these artifacts.
The emptiness of a history without reference points—without the prospect of examining available works of art—is enormous. It can lead either to madness or the decision to move forward and create new works.
The Critics Company is a Nigerian artist group formed in Kaduna in 2015, consisting of Godwin Gaza Josiah, Victor Josiah, Raymond Yusuff, Richard Yusuff, and Ronald Yusuff. For their very first exhibition, the group has created a new work especially for ZOLLAMTMMK.
The exhibition is supported by:
Stiftung Stark für Gegenwartskunst
This exhibition is by a group of artists called The Critics Company.
The artists come from Nigeria in West Africa.
This exhibition shows their works of art from 2023.
The title of the exhibition:
One Can Only Hope and Wonder
includes many ideas.
These ideas are:
Hope and longing.
Wishes and thoughts about the past.
And how the future might be.
Failure and sadness.
Because it was impossible to change things.
In the film a woman called Emose says:
Clever people have decided to look to the future.
They paint with their tears.
They can go mad.
They create new art.
What happened in the Kingdom of Benin?
Benin was a Kingdom in West Africa.
The King ruled the Kingdom of Benin.
In West Africa the king is called Oba.
In February 1897 British colonial troops destroyed the Kingdom of Benin.
The troops were an army of soldiers.
Great Britain ordered the army to go to war.
The army attacked and occupied other countries.
Then they defended these occupied countries.
Great Britain saw these countries as its own property.
In those days Great Britain wanted to be a world power.
Great Britain wanted to rule many countries and their people.
This was called colonialism.
Colonialism means:
Countries in Europe used violence to take other countries.
Then they ruled over these countries for a long time.
Great Britain also sent their colonial troops to Benin.
They took the land away from the people of Benin.
They stole valuable and important works of art.
They stole more than 3,500 works of art.
Many of these works of art came to the British Museum in London.
This is a large and important museum in Great Britain.
Many works of art went to auction.
At an auction people offer money for the works of art.
The person who offers the most money is the person who buys the work of art.
German museums have lots of works of art from the Kingdom of Benin.
They have them from auctions.
Returning the works of art:
Many years ago the descendents of Oba said:
These works of art belong to us.
We want them back.
No one has the right to steal works of art from another country.
Today the Kingdom of Benin is a part of Nigeria.
In 1960 the country of Nigeria in West Africa became independent.
That means:
Nigeria makes its own decisions.
Nigeria is free.
In 1960 the government of Nigeria made a claim for restitution.
Restitution means the returning of works of art.
Nigeria demanded that Germany returns the works of art:
— If someone stole them.
— If someone had no right to take them.
— If someone took them by force.
These works of art are very important for Nigeria.
They are part of Nigeria‘s history.
They stand for the customs and way of life in the Kingdom of Benin.
That is why the people of Nigeria must have these works of art back.
For 125 years German museums have refused to return them.
In 2022 Germany finally returned some of these works of art.
There are more than 1,100 stolen works of art.
Without these works of art there is an empty space.
An empty space between the past and the history of the people.
If the works of art are missing:
— The people cannot deal with their own art.
— They cannot deal with their history.
That can drive people mad.
Or it can make people become artists.
The artists have their own ideas and make new works of art.
This is what The Critics Company have done.
The artists founded The Critics Company in 2015 in Kaduna, North Nigeria.
This is their first exhibition.
They have made films and works of art especially for this exhibition
at the ZOLLAMTMMK.
Members of The Critics Company are:
— Godwin Gaza Josiah.
— Victor Josiah.
— Raymond Yusuff.
— Richard Yusuff.
— Ronald Yusuff.