The Kingdom of Benin in present-day Nigeria has a long history of exchange and trade with the global North since the 15th century. In colonial times, the capital Benin City was attacked by British colonial troops in 1897 and the king’s palace was looted and burned down in the process. Between 3,000 and 5,000 objects were stolen from the palace. They subsequently found their way into private and public collections all over the world as so-called “Benin bronzes” via the art trade (https://rietberg.ch/en/research/the-swiss-benin-initiative).
The Benin Initiative Switzerland (BIS) unites eight Swiss museums which have come together under the leadership of Zurich’s Museum Rietberg to investigate the provenance of their holdings from the historical Kingdom of Benin in Nigeria. This project is separated in different phases: In the first phase 2021-2022 (BIS Phase I) provenances research was done together with Nigerian colleagues with the aim to present and evaluate the results in 2023-2024 (BIS Phase II). Samson Ogiamien has been one of the Nigerian collaborators.
As a collaborator of this initiative Ogiamien is now presenting his artistic work in collaboration with two museums: The Musée d’ethnographie de Genève and the Museum Rietberg
World Art in Zurich.
Please see here his participation in the program of Museum Rietberg:
Samson Ogiamien was also invited to participate in the exhibition “Remembering, Geneva in the Colonial World” at Musée d’ethnographie de Genève (https://colonialgeneva.ch/accueil-en) This exhibition asked: How did Geneva live through the colonial period? In what ways was the Ethnography Museum a major cultural actor in the colonial context? What is the future of the collections held there? Can we understand today the real identity of an object, sometimes centuries after it entered the Genevan museum collections?
Samson Ogiamien created one out of five independent and immersive universes, called “SE-YA-MA” (https://colonialgeneva.ch/3.3-en) In the Edo language, SE-YA-MA means «to remember». The artist chose this verb to embody this capsule in which his sculptural and performative work is presented in dialogue with the objects from the Benin Kingdom (Nigeria) looted by British colonial troops in 1897 and dispersed on the art market during the 20th century.
In the following interview Samson Ogiamien explains his background, his approach and research for the creation of the Capsule SE- YA- MA and his art work on the Iyagbon’s mask, bringing together traditional and contemporary elements in his theatrical play, which was designed to sensitize the public to the problems related to the African heritage in European museums:
HERE you can watch Iyagbon’s Mirror Performance in Geneva:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRFD4jYTCsE
Credits
Compagnie Onyrikon & Samson Ogiamien
Art directors: Juri Cainero, Beatriz Navarro, Samson Ogiamien
Director: Juri Cainero
Choreography: Beatriz Navarro
Sculpture & performance: Samson Ogiamien
Stage manager: Daniele Bianco
Performers: Compagnie Onyrikon and Edo Cultural Art Forum
Recording and audiovisual production: Kumquat|Studio K