2010-09-21
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In 2001, the UK National Census recorded that one in 20 Londoners were of Black African descent,
and it's a figure that's continued to rise in the years since.
Modern British life and culture now have a strong African component.
It's a development that's merely the latest chapter in the history of relations between Africa and Western Europe.
And in that long and turbulent history, the Benin Bronzes, as they used to be known, hold a unique place.
Made in what is now modern Nigeria in the 16th century, the Benin plaques are actually made of brass, not bronze.
They're each about the size of an A3 sheet of paper,
and they show figures in high relief that celebrate the battles won
by the army of the Benin ruler, the Oba, and the rituals of the Oba's court.
They're not only great works of art and triumphs of metal casting,
they're also documents of two quite distinct moments of Euro-African contact.
The first, peaceful and commercial; the second, bloody.
This was really our first notable encounter with the European world.
People who came in looking for trading partners, looking for expansion of their own knowledge of the world
and being astonished to encounter this, this society.
A History of the World in 100 Objects. The Oba of Benin with Europeans.
A brass plaque cast in Nigeria during the 16th century.
Throughout this week, we're with objects that describe how Europe first encountered
and then traded with the wider world in the 16th century.