Categories
Discoveries

African art in unexpected places: ruins of the Benin Kingdom palace at the Antwerp Zoo

Antwerp zoo Benin Kingdom mural a

A new category on the blog, “African art in unexpected places” wants to show African art where you least expect it. Last weekend I finally got to photograph the “ancient” ruins of the palace walls of the Benin Kingdom, preserved in a monkey cage in the Antwerp Zoo! These walls were clearly inspired by the famous brass Benin plaques from Nigeria. The monkeys not even being African, I wonder what the idea behind this was. It’s rather intriguing, especially as none of the other cages are decorated… the monkeys clearly were indifferent, so not a big success.
Antwerp zoo Benin Kingdom mural Bruno Claessens

Don’t hesitate to share a picture if you would run into African art in strange surroundings as well!

Categories
News

African art stolen in a Brussels apartment some years ago

Stolen Africarium Collection African art

Stolen in Brussels some years ago, all of these are unfortunately still missing.
Don’t hesitate to get in touch if you come across any of them, thanks.