In October 2020, a five-member project team consisting of Prof. Kokunre Agbontaen-Eghafona, Dr Felicity Bodenstein, Dr Jonathan Fine, Dr Anne Luther, and Prof. Dr Barbara Plankensteiner launched a major initiative to bring together on a digital platform the art treasures from the Kingdom of Benin that were looted in the late 19th century and scattered around the world: Digital Benin.
Made possible with the support of the Ernst-von-Siemens Kunststiftung and based in Hamburg at the Museum am Rothenbaum, Kulturen und Künste der Welt (MARKK) and with a project office in Benin City, Nigeria, the team grew to fourteen members from Nigeria, the USA, Germany and Kenya.
The result: after only 24 months, the platform is online. 131 museums and institutions from 20 countries, including Australia, New Zealand, the United States, Canada, and Israel, as well as 14 European countries, collaborated to document 5,246 objects.
Relief Plaque: Portuguese with Linstock and Five Manillas, Wilhelm Albert Maschmann, 16th/17th century
Commemorative Head of a King, William Downing Webster, 19th century
Principal Investigators
Prof. Kokunre Agbontaen-Eghafona, University of Benin (Benin City, Nigeria)
Dr. Felicity Bodenstein, Sorbonne Université (Paris, France)
Dr. Jonathan D.M. Fine, Director Weltmuseum Wien (Vienna, Austria)
Dr. Anne Luther, Project catalyst, (Philadelphia, USA )
Prof. Dr. Barbara Plankensteiner, Director Museum am Rothenbaum (MARKK) (Hamburg, Germany)
