Only 40 Benin Bronze makers are left in Nigeria as the country fights to have the stolen bronzes returned
In the past few years, Europe and the United States have been returning stolen bronzes from the historical Kingdom of Benin. While today's Benin Bronze casters appreciate repatriation efforts, they say Nigeria's government is not investing enough in them. They fear if this continues, there won't be any more Benin Bronze craftsmen left standing in the next few decades.
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00:00Before casting this sculpture in bronze,
00:05Ebua Fred Iyama covers it with the red earth of Nigeria's Benin City.
00:13These Benin bronzes are made the same way Fred's ancestors crafted them more than 500 years ago.
00:21The artifacts have been in the news recently as calls grow louder to return the bronzes,
00:26which were looted and housed in museums across the Western world.
00:32While more and more of these bronzes are being returned,
00:35only about 40 artisans remain making new sculptures today.
00:41And they worry the craft won't survive much longer.
00:50They say the problem is Nigeria's government will invest in the return of stolen Benin bronzes,
00:55but they're not investing enough in today's bronze casters.
01:00We went to Benin City to see how this craft is still standing,
01:04and if artists can keep it that way for much longer.
01:12To make a Benin bronze, Fred starts off by creating the core of the piece,
01:17a rough mold out of the red earth from Igun Street.
01:21This quarter was once bustling with craftsmen,
01:24but today it's left with only a few dozen.
01:28They make up the Royal Guild of Bronze Casters.
01:31Fred is one of these craftsmen, carrying on the legacy of his ancestors.
01:55The core is made of red earth from the same area bronze craftsmen have used for centuries.
02:02This statue is Fred's interpretation of the various busts of Oba Esegi,
02:07or King Esegi, the ruler of the Benin Kingdom in the early 16th century.
02:14He'll craft the bronze with the same techniques as his ancestors.
02:19I'm trying to soften the wax, because there is no sun.
02:24To make the wax, since there is fire here, instead of waiting for the sun,
02:31we have to use this method.
02:36This is the process of making the bronze.
02:40This is the process of making the bronze.
02:44This is the process of making the bronze.
02:49When the wax is soft enough, Fred covers the core with it
02:52and turns his attention to the more intricate details of the art piece.
02:56He does this the traditional way, with a cow bone.
03:01For the traditional people, they use this one, not spatula, as we call it now.
03:08What I'm trying to do now is to make it to become one.
03:13That is the big bead that is in the Oba's neck.
03:17It's what I'm trying to form now.
03:21The purpose of Benin bronzes has always been to record history,
03:25like a depiction of an important event,
03:28or something as simple as a king's unique style of dress.
03:33The Igun people, our ancestors, are historians.
03:39Not just telling the story, they molded everything.
03:44They mold each event.
03:47The only way they document it is by molding it.
03:55Now that the details of the bust are complete,
03:57Fred covers it in layers of wet red earth.
04:01Some of Fred's earliest memories are playing with this red powdery soil.
04:06Any new baby that is being given birth to,
04:09as he's growing, the red sand is always around him.
04:14Most of the red sand,
04:16why we begin to fall in love with it,
04:19that is the craftsmanship.
04:22As you are playing with it, the spirit comes inside you.
04:26As Fred is finishing up,
04:28he inserts at the base of the piece two bones,
04:31around which he forms an outlet where the melted wax will escape.
04:37Fred leaves the piece to dry overnight.
04:43The next day, Fred prepares the mold for firing.
04:47We want to guide and bind the artwork
04:51before taking it to the oven.
04:54Every part of the mold is covered, except for the outlet.
04:57Now, Fred can put it in the fire.
05:02This is where the meticulous preparation pays off.
05:05The wax around the inner core melts off and escapes through the outlet,
05:09creating a space between the layers of the piece.
05:14The piece is then placed in the oven,
05:16where it will be fired.
05:18The inner core melts off and escapes through the outlet,
05:21creating a space between the layers of hardened soil
05:24in the shape of Oba Esigi.
05:27This is called loft wax casting.
05:30For Fred, the ingenuity of the technique continues to inspire him.
05:35Some of us, sometimes we take time to wonder,
05:38is it our ancestors that did this thing?
05:42But the reason why we are convinced
05:45is when we see ourselves doing it.
05:47But what wonders us about our ancestors is that
05:50what prompted that idea?
05:52What were they thinking that made them come up with this thing?
06:00Fred melts these odds and ends into liquid bronze.
06:08He pours the metal into the outlet,
06:10filling the space left vacant by the wax melting.
06:18The molten bronze cools down and takes shape.
06:37Fred hacks away at the outer layers,
06:40each blow from the hammer revealing lustrous bronze underneath.
06:48When he's done, he hands it over to Sasa
06:51for filing and polishing.
07:02Sasa learned this work from his brother.
07:05It's the only step in the process that is modernized.
07:08He uses rasps to scrape away at the leftover hardened sand.
07:13Sasa picks at every crevice,
07:15making sure not to damage the artwork.
07:29Using a polishing machine,
07:31Sasa buffs the bronze to a perfect sheen.
07:45The techniques Fred and Sasa use
07:47were developed as early as the 1200s.
07:51Back then, bronze casters were noblemen in the kingdom of Benin,
07:55which predates the modern-day nations of Nigeria and Benin.
07:59Bronze casters could spend months working on a single piece.
08:03But 1897 was a turning point.
08:06The chiefs of Benin resisted British commercial involvement
08:10and staged an ambush on a trading expedition,
08:13killing British soldiers.
08:15In retaliation, the British pillaged the Oba's palace,
08:18stealing thousands of valuable pieces,
08:21including Benin bronzes.
08:23That February, the British captured the kingdom of Benin,
08:27and the looted sculptures were auctioned off across Europe.
08:32As a result, museums in Benin City
08:34have very little to show for their history.
08:44You can see them.
08:45They even have some in between their legs, behind them.
08:49All standards are the objects, and these are all plaques.
08:52And he's having a fun of himself,
08:55with his cigar in his mouth,
08:57and looking at the photographer.
08:59So all these collections, most of them,
09:02went to the world through the British Museum,
09:05and some of them are still there to date,
09:07and we wish they will send them back to where they belong.
09:10Over a century later, public opinion started to change,
09:15with advocates calling to return looted artifacts
09:18back to their original homes.
09:21Within that period of about 127 years,
09:25it was like we were in trauma.
09:27We were being disturbed because part of our history,
09:30part of our body had been taken out.
09:33But as it's now coming back, we believe that we are now full.
09:37Nigeria has been requesting the return of these artworks
09:40since the 1970s.
09:42Its efforts began to pay off in October 2021,
09:46when the University of Cambridge
09:48became the first institution to return a Benin bronze to Nigeria.
09:52Since then, the United States has returned 30 bronzes,
09:56Germany 22, and the UK 8.
10:01But this is a drop in the bucket
10:03compared to the 5,000 bronzes stolen in 1897.
10:09Fred says bronze casters like him
10:11avoid going to the Museum of Benin
10:13because it forces them to confront this dark time in their history.
10:44But in the next few years,
10:46Fred will be able to see some of those stolen bronzes
10:49up close at the planned Edo Museum of West African Art.
10:53It will cost an estimated $100 million,
10:57with part of the funding coming from the state of Edo,
11:00where Benin City is located.
11:14And maybe to Benin is a thing of joy to us.
11:19It's a thing that we know that can actually promote our culture the most
11:25and promote tourism in Africa, in Nigeria and in Benin especially.
11:31But with so much attention being given
11:33to the return of the historical bronzes
11:36and the tourism they may promote,
11:38Fred says today's craftsmen are being neglected.
11:43The nation is not helping the craftsmen.
11:47And the government, nobody is helping the craftsmen.
11:52Everything we are doing, we are just surviving.
11:57Even though Igun Street has been recognized
11:59as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1999,
12:02its artisans are struggling to preserve the renowned craft.
12:07So that you all hear in the news,
12:09this is what the UN or this World Heritage Center
12:12are trying to do to preserve the sculpture or the art or the craft.
12:18But none of them will come to the craftsmen.
12:22For that, without the government's involvement,
12:26I don't think there is hope for the craftsmen in the next 30 years.
12:32The original bronze casters weren't faced with these pressures.
12:36They were appointed into guilds by the Oba,
12:39to provide them with materials like bronze.
12:42Benin City's craftsmen are looking for the same support today.
12:46They are importing the goose.
12:48The bronze we are using, they are importing all.
12:53They decide the sales of bronze, not we.
12:59Once they said a kilo of bronze is 30,000 Naira.
13:03How will the bronze caster continue?
13:07It will be hard for them to continue.
13:10But when the government takes charge,
13:16then the things will be easier for the craftsmen.
13:21Because they will not be financing the material.
13:26We reached out to several agencies within the Nigerian and Edo state governments,
13:31but did not receive a response.
13:34Fred's main customers are tourists and local art dealers.
13:38He says profits are not enough to sustain his workshop.
13:42He does most of his sales through middlemen.
13:45We sell for like $300, $400 to a seller also.
13:52Then that one will go and sell to the end user.
13:55It can be $5,000, it can be $2,000.
13:58Fred recommends buyers source directly from the craftsmen
14:02until they receive financial support.
14:04The place is an open place.
14:06Come direct, see for yourself.
14:10Know what they are writing or what they are telling people outside.
14:14You come to the source, you see for yourself,
14:18see what the craftsmen, what they are going through.
14:21That is the only thing I felt that will save this work.
14:28Saving the craft from extinction is so personal for Fred
14:32because he comes from a line of bronze casters dating back to the 15th century.
14:38His family name, Iyama, is a title bestowed by the king.
14:43Welcome, this is my house.
14:46Come let me show you something.
14:49As you can see, this is my father.
14:55This picture is like 40-something years ago.
15:04Everything, everything that I do now concerning this craft,
15:10I learned from my father.
15:13This piece is one of Fred's greatest inspirations.
15:16He helped his father create this interpretation of a stolen original,
15:20which is held at the Princeton University Art Museum in New Jersey.
15:24Something like this is so beautiful and unique.
15:31I feel, in me I feel very good
15:35because I know in 100 years or 50 years to come,
15:41this documentary is still retained as it is.
15:46My work will be remembered.
15:48I feel good that I am among those that are preserving the culture and the artwork for now.
15:57The younger generation will see the works of my hand
16:03as I have seen my ancestors' own.
16:06I feel very good and excited.