Ama O Ghe Ehen (Fish Plaque), 18th Century, Brass(bronze), 43 x 18 cm. Court of the Oba of Benin, Nigeria. Courtesy of the NCMM, on behalf of the Oba of Benin. Photograph by Martijn Schmidt.
20 May 2026

Another Gathering: The Beauty We Inherit

SYMPOSIUM | 20 May, 2026 | 9:30 - 17:30 | Grote Zaal, Wereldmuseum Leiden

Until its restitution in November 2025, Ama O Ghe Ehen, a 18th-century bronze plaque depicting a mudfish, was held in the Museum de Fundatie's collection since its acquisition in 1937. The Research Center for Material Culture and Museum de Fundatie are organising this symposium to explore the process and implications of this return, and what restitution might mean in the context of this plaque.

Photo: Ama O Ghe Ehen (Fish Plaque), 18th Century, Brass (bronze), 43 x 18 cm. Court of the Oba of Benin, Nigeria. Courtesy of the NCMM, on behalf of the Oba of Benin. Photograph by Martijn Schmidt.

Another Gathering: The Beauty We Inherit is organized within the framework of the exhibition Back to Benin: New Art, Ancient Legacy, currently on view at Museum de Fundatie in Zwolle until 7 June 2026. The exhibition brings together ten contemporary artists of Edo background in dialogue with Ama O Ghe Ehen, a 18th-century bronze plaque depicting a mudfish, and its restitution from the Netherlands to Benin. 

Although artworks and objects have recently been returned to Benin, the historical, spiritual, cultural, and artistic rupture caused by their violent removal cannot be reversed.  

This symposium asks: What does it mean to be in the wake of absence? Can absence become a site of imagination and knowledge? In what ways do spiritual, scientific, artistic and curatorial practices contribute to reconfiguring absence into new forms of presence, meanings and relations? 

Another Gathering: The Beauty We Inherit will bring together artists, scholars, writers, and curators some of whom have participated in the exhibition, its development, or its spaces to explore these questions through keynotes, screenings, conversations, and sonic and visual lectures, as well as performances. 

Confirmed guests

Prof. Kokunre Agbontaen-Eghafona (Professor of Cultural Anthropology)

Amal Alhaag (Curator and researcher and programmer)

Mistura Allison (Researcher, Curator and Art Historian)

Oladélé Ajiboyé Bamgboyé (Artist and Scientist)

Osaisonor Godfrey Ekhator-Obogie (Historian and Researcher)

Isaac Emopkae (Visual Artist)

Helene Kelhetter (Visual Artist)

Roxane Mbanga (Visual Artist)

Renée Mboya (Curator and Filmmaker)

Emmanuel Ndeffo (Multidisciplinary Artist and Researcher)

Elijah Ndoumbe (Multidisciplinary Artist, Storyteller, Dream-Weaver, and Collaborator)

Nkisi (Producer, Live Musician, DJ and Curator)

David Odiase (Artist and Poet)

Festus Toll (Filmmaker)

About the exhibition ''Back to Benin: New Art, Ancient Legacy''

In November 2025, Museum de Fundatie returned without condition Ama O Ghe Ehen, a Benin bronze plaque that has been acquired in 1937 by the museum’s founder, Dirk Hannema. This act of restitution forms the basis of the exhibition  Back to Benin: New Art, Ancient Legacy, which brings together 10 contemporary Nigerian artists of Edo origin, namely Leo Asemota, Minne Atairu, Victor Ehikhamenor, Favour Jonathan, Taiye Idahor, Osaru Obaseki, Enotie Ogbebor, Abraham Onoriode Oghobase, Osaze Amadasun and Phil Omodamwen.  
 
Treating the object as a point of departure, the artists have created new works that explore the theme of restitution beyond the act of returning physical objects. These artists cast a contemporary look on the history, culture and philosophy of the Benin Kingdom, the symbols and symbolism of Edo art, and the materiality of artefacts such as the plaque. The exhibition thus seeks to (re)construct the different facets and multidimensional worlds that Ama O Ghe Ehen represents or evokes. 

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