In 1897, British troops looted nearly 5,000 artworks from the palaces in Benin and sold them onward. It is estimated that only 8 percent remain in Nigeria today. Through repurchases and donations since the late 1940s, efforts have been made to gradually expand the collection.
Larger collections are now housed at institutions such as the British Museum, the ethnographic museums in Berlin, Vienna, Hamburg, Cambridge, and Oxford, the Field Museum in Chicago, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Since 2022, several major museums in the United Kingdom, the United States, and Germany have decided to return looted Benin artifacts to Nigeria. As of 2024, decisions have been made to transfer nearly 1,500 objects to Nigerian ownership. Sweden's National Museums of World Culture, which currently hold 50 such items, is also part of this movement. In November 2023, the Swedish government decided that the National Museums of World Culture would return 39 looted artifacts to Nigeria.
The exhibition "Back to Benin" tells the story of the Edo people and the living Kingdom of Benin through its art and history—a history that dates back to the 12th century. It also highlights the efforts to return a vibrant cultural heritage to its rightful place.