Video link: https://youtube.com/shorts/z2nnL2jcQ7E?si=qFErs7z0aiLcFOGT
London/New York – February 16, 2026 – The Humboldt Forum formally installed an Afrodescendant video panel within its Benin Bronze exhibition — a historic expansion of representation inside one of Europe’s most prominent museum spaces.
The new screen joins approximately ten existing video installations in the gallery, most featuring perspectives from the Benin Kingdom and Edo community. Now included among them is Deadria Farmer-Paellmann — of Edo ancestry — representing Afrodescendants globally and addressing the slave-trade origins of the bronzes.
This milestone builds on groundwork laid in 2024, when the museum introduced exhibition text explicitly acknowledging that Benin bronzes were cast from manillas (brass bracelets) acquired through transatlantic human trafficking networks.
The inclusion of the Afrodescendant voice signals a meaningful evolution in museum practice: recognition that descendants of enslaved Africans are stakeholders in these works.
The Humboldt Forum joins a growing number of leading institutions taking similar steps. In May 2025, the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York/USA) updated its Benin Bronze interpretation following engagement with the Restitution Study Group. The Rietberg Museum (Zurich, Switzerland) has likewise revised its framing and shared 3D scans to support the forthcoming Benin Kingdom Museum in Harlem.
Discussions with additional Benin Bronze stakeholder institutions continue.
This moment marks a turning point: the global Benin Bronze conversation is expanding to include the descendants whose ancestors were exchanged for the metal manilla currency used to create these masterpieces. ###
To support the continued advancement of historical truth, cultural education, and Afro-descendant representation globally, please contribute to the Restitution Study Group.
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