The ruler of Ghana’s Asante people has asked the British Museum to return gold items in its collection to his country.
BBC reports that the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, recently met the museum’s director Dr Hartwig Fischer for discussions.
The museum’s collection includes works taken from the Asante palace in Kumasi during the war with the British of 1874.
The British Museum told the BBC it is “exploring the possibility of lending items” to Ghana.
The Ghanaian ruler met Dr Fischer last week, after attending the Coronation of King Charles.
The British Museum has been under increasing pressure in recent years to return items in its collection to their countries of origin.
The demands by Greece for the return of the Parthenon Sculptures, often still known as the Elgin Marbles, are the most high-profile example in this contested debate.
Ghana’s government has set up a Restitution Committee to look at the return of items taken from the Asante Palace which are now in collections around the world.
Nana Oforiatta Ayim, who sits on that committee, told the BBC: “These objects are largely sacred ones and their return is about more than just restitution. It is also about reparation and repair, for the places they were taken from, but also those who did the taking.”
She added that they are looking for a new relationship “not based on exploitation or oppression, but on equity and mutual respect”.
Last Thursday’s discussions at the British Museum are the first ever meeting between the Asantehene and the museum’s director Dr Fischer.
According to the British Museum, the Asantehene requested a loan of items of regalia belonging to his forbears.
They were removed by the diplomat and soldier Lord Elgin in the 19th Century and later bought by the British government and placed in the British Museum.
