Kingdom of Benin display praised for engaging with partners, creatives and young people

A Horniman Museum and Gardens project which received support from Art Fund for an artist residency, hosted at the Winchester School of Art, has been recognised by the Museums Association with a 2025 Museums Change Lives Award.

Find out more about the 2025 Museums Change Lives Award

The Great Kingdom of Benin display – which opened in December 2024 – received the accolade in recognition of its work engaging with communities on updating the permanent Benin Kingdom display at the Horniman following the return of ownership of 72 items looted from the kingdom in 1897, most of which arecurrently on loan from Nigeria’s National Commission for Museums and Monuments.

Guided throughout by six Nigerian and Nigerian-diaspora community members as co-curators, this multimedia display places the historic artefacts alongside more contemporary pieces, including a film and soundscape exploring heritage, and a bronze sculpture created by artist Osaru Obaseki through the museum’s first international artist residency.

Artist residency at the Winchester School of Art

Edo-born multi-media visual artist Osaru Obaseki was commissioned by the Horniman to create a contemporary bronze sculpture for the new display. Osaru works using sand and acrylic to bring together the ancient and modern. She also works with bronze, using the longstanding history of bronze casting and the lost wax technique.

Osaru’s residency was hosted by the Winchester School of Art, and her sculpture, titled Ame, Oyevbamen Like Water, represents the head of an Edo woman and celebrates great women from Edo history and today. Ian Dawson , Lecturer in Sculpture at WSA, who supported Osaru during her residency, said: “Osaru’s residency created a genuinely collaborative environment in which the technical demands of the casting were central. Sculpture Technician Jacob Hall expanded his skillset through the complexity of the process, and his dedication –alongside the expertise of Andrew Brook –  was fundamental to the project’s success. That kind of deep technical involvement is often overlooked, but it was absolutely integral to the emergence of the final work. This project shows how making and material exchange remain central to the kinds of cultural collaborations that matter.”

Louise Siddons , Head of Department of Art and Media Technology at the Winchester School of Art, said: “This project is a great example of how research and Knowledge Exchange and Enterprise (KEE) activities can intersect with the unique facilities on offer here at WSA to create innovative and award-winning decolonising solutions in the international culture and heritage sectors".