Überblick
After previous talks between Nigerian and German delegations on the restitution of the so-called "Benin Bronzes", the work of the project "Edo|cation", initiated by the Commission for Archaeology of Non-European Cultures (KAAK) at the German Archaeological Institute (DAI), begun with funding from the German Federal Foreign Office in 2022. Edo|cation supports the establishment of an archaeological research center in Benin City, Nigeria. The research center will be part of the future "Edo Museum of West African Art" (EMOWAA) that will be built there. The DAI will especially support the cooperation with local institutions and colleagues. In joint workshops and joint research with the National Commission for Museums and Monuments (NCMM), EMOWAA and the University of Ibadan, digital methods of documenting historical sites will be discussed, taught and used. Together with these institutions and local artists from Benin City, concepts for further research and presentation of the material culture of the Kingdom of Benin will also be developed. This includes in particular the Moats of Benin (Iya), which surround the city center and extend far into the surrounding countryside. There they branch out into a dense network and thus belong to the largest archaeological monuments in the world.
