DIGITAL BENIN

Digital Platform for the Art Treasures from the Kingdom of Benin

Fall/Winter 2022

Knowledge Forum

DIGITAL BENIN

Digital Platform for the Art Treasures from the Kingdom of Benin

Fall/Winter 2022

In October 2020, Museum am Rothenbaum Kulturen und Künste der Welt (MARKK) started an extensive two-year project that brings together the art treasures from the Kingdom of Benin, which were looted in the late 19th century and scattered around the world, on a digital platform and makes them accessible to a broad public: DIGITAL BENIN.

A generous grant of 1.5 million Euros from the Ernst von Siemens Kunststiftung is funding the project with offices in Hamburg and Benin City, as well as workplaces in France, Austria, the United Kingdom, and the United States. A fourteen-member international project team, supported by five scientific advisors in Nigeria, Kenya and the USA, set to work contacting collections worldwide, compiling the relevant object data and processing it for the platform. The result: 131 museums and institutions from 20 countries, including Australia, New Zealand, the United States, Canada and Israel, as well as 14 European countries, collaborated for the documentation of over 5,240 objects.

An unprecedented knowledge forum, DIGITAL BENIN introduces new scholarship which connects digital documentation of the translocated objects to oral histories, object research, historical contexts, a foundational Edo language catalogue, provenance names, a map of the Kingdom of Benin, and museum collections worldwide.

www.digitalbenin.org

Press material

Press photos

  • Two court figures with dwarfism // Zwei Hoffiguren mit Zwergenwuchs,
    Inv. No. 64743, 64745
    14th/15th century // 14./15. Jh.
    © KHM-Museumsverband, Weltmuseum Wien
    https://digitalbenin.org/catalogue/50_VO64743
    https://digitalbenin.org/catalogue/50_VO64745
  • Pair of Leopards // Leopardenpaar, Inv. No. LG 1952.13.1, LG 1952.13.2
    © The National Commission for Museums and Monuments, Nigeria.
    Photo: Georg Molterer
    https://digitalbenin.org/catalogue/37_LG1952132
    https://digitalbenin.org/catalogue/37_LG1952131
  • Memorial Head of a Queen Mother (Iyoba) // Gedenkkopf einer Königinmutter (lyoba), CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.
    16th century // 16. Jh.
    © Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Ethnologisches Museum.
    Photo: Jürgen Liepe
    https://digitalbenin.org/catalogue/13_455905
  • Commemorative Head of an Oba // Gedenkkopf eines Oba, MAf 34554
    Kingdom of Benin, Nigeria // Königreich Benin, Nigeria
    End of 18th Century // Ende 18. Jh.
    Permanent loan from the Ernst von Siemens Kunststiftung //
    Dauerleihgabe der Ernst von Siemens Kunststiftung
    Collection GRASSI Museum für Völkerkunde zu Leipzig
    © Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, Photo: Martin Lutze
    https://digitalbenin.org/catalogue/47_1802935
  • Altar of the Hand (ikegobo) // Altar der Hand (ikegobo), Inv. Nr. 16110
    Kingdom of Benin, Nigeria // Königreich Benin, Nigeria
    before 1897 // vor 1897
    Collection Museum für Völkerkunde Dresden
    © Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, Photo: Eva Winkler
    https://digitalbenin.org/catalogue/47_1705332
  • Relief Plaque: King with two Dignitaries // Reliefplatte: König mit zwei Würdenträgern
    Kingdom of Benin, Nigeria // Königreich Benin, Nigeria
    © Museum am Rothenbaum MARKK, Photo: Paul Schimweg
    https://digitalbenin.org/catalogue/24_C2897
  • Standing Male Figure // Stehende männliche Figur, A230
    Unidentified artist // Unbekannter Künstler
    16th century // 16. Jh.
    Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia, USA
    © Public Domain
    https://digitalbenin.org/catalogue/240_A230
  • Female Figure // Weibliche Figur, Object No.: 1978.412.302.
    Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA
    © Public Domain
    https://digitalbenin.org/catalogue/22_1978412302
  • Bracelet: Equestrian and Standing Figure // Armbänder: Reiter und stehende Figur, Object No.: 1991.17.77.
    Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA
    © Public Domain
    https://digitalbenin.org/catalogue/22_19911777
  • Plaque: Portuguese with Five Manilas // Platte: Portugiese mit fünf Manilas, Inv. No. 94.799
    Kingdom of Benin, Nigeria // Königreich Benin, Nigeria
    16th/17th century // 16./17. Jh.
    © KHM-Museumsverband, Weltmuseum Wien
    https://digitalbenin.org/catalogue/50_VO64799
  • Door bolt // Türbolzen, Inv. No. 64781
    Kingdom of Benin, Nigeria // Königreich Benin, Nigeria
    18th/19th century // 18./19. Jh.
    © KHM-Museumsverband, Weltmuseum Wien
    https://digitalbenin.org/catalogue/50_VO64781
  • Trophy head // Trophäenkopf, Inv. No. LG 1954.15.7
    © The National Commission for Museums and Monuments, Nigeria.
    Photo: Georg Molterer
    https://digitalbenin.org/catalogue/37_LG1954157
  • Armcuff // Armspange, Inv. No. LG1948.28.1
    © The National Commission for Museums and Monuments, Nigeria.
    Photo: Georg Molterer
    https://digitalbenin.org/catalogue/37_LG1948281
  • Screenshot Examples digitalbenin.org (further high quality screenshots upon request)
    Agbontaen-Eghafona, K., Bodenstein, F., Coulson, I., de la Croix, E., Denis, K., Ekhator-Obogie, O. G., Fine, J., Horak, A., Luther, A., Obobaifo, E., Osaruemwinnomwan Oviahon, M., Plankensteiner, B., & Tiedemann, G., 9 November 2022.
    Screenshot Example https://digitalbenin.org/catalogue
  • Screenshot Examples digitalbenin.org (further high quality screenshots upon request)
    Agbontaen-Eghafona, K., Bodenstein, F., Coulson, I., de la Croix, E., Denis, K., Ekhator-Obogie, O. G., Fine, J., Horak, A., Luther, A., Obobaifo, E., Osaruemwinnomwan Oviahon, M., Plankensteiner, B., & Tiedemann, G., 9 November 2022.
    Screenshot Example https://digitalbenin.org/eyo-oto
  • Oral History Interview with Monday Aigbe and Ewaen Aigbe in Benin City, 2022. © Osaisonor Godfrey Ekhator-Obogie
  • Oral History Interview with Roseline Ogbodu in Benin City, 2022. © Osaisonor Godfrey Ekhator-Obogie
  • Oral History Interview at the MARKK, 2022. © Osaisonor Godfrey Ekhator-Obogie
  • Digital Benin: Key Visual
  • Digital Benin: Logo
  • Digital Benin: Logo