‘If it dies, it’s on you’: Saving Nigeria’s Benin bronze casting
Key takeaways
- Behind the global restitution story, master artisans are fighting to keep a centuries-old craft alive.
- xwhatsapp-strokecopylinkgoogle Add Al Jazeera on Googleinfo Benin City, Nigeria — In the back yard of a neighbourhood drinking bar, the clang of metal carries from a small bronze foundry.
- Two workmen pour the liquid bronze into clay moulds buried in the sand using long metal tongs. “We are moulding the statue of a man, organ by organ,” says one of the workmen, nicknamed Double Chief.
Why this matters: an international story with cross-border implications worth tracking.
Behind the global restitution story, master artisans are fighting to keep a centuries-old craft alive.
xwhatsapp-strokecopylinkgoogle Add Al Jazeera on Googleinfo Benin City, Nigeria — In the back yard of a neighbourhood drinking bar, the clang of metal carries from a small bronze foundry. Swirling smoke rises from smouldering charcoal. A small crucible, half-full with molten bronze, sits atop orange-brown embers.
Two workmen pour the liquid bronze into clay moulds buried in the sand using long metal tongs. “We are moulding the statue of a man, organ by organ,” says one of the workmen, nicknamed Double Chief. “When all the organs are cast, we will join them together to form the full stature of the man.”