The Asantehene Otumfuo, Osei Tutu II, met with the leadership of The British Museum on Thursday to discuss Ashanti regalia items confiscated by the British after the Battle of Amoaful or The Ashanti War of 1874.
As part of his business trip to London, he requested contemporary cultural cooperation in the administration and technical support of the Manhyia Palace Museum.
The Museum Director, the German art historian Dr. Hartwig Fischer, the Deputy Director, Dr. Jonathan Williams, and the Head of the Africa Department and Curator, Sam Nixon and Julie Hudson, greeted the Asantehene, who later explained that the Manhyia Museum, which is undergoing a major reorganization and expansion, is a living institution that generates revenue.
As with all prominent museums, it required additional collections to bolster patronage and growth.
This, he stated, was contrary to the ancient laws of Britain, even as lengthy negotiations continued.
Dr. Fischer, who led the BM team's deliberations, characterized the visit as an illustrious one and vowed to work towards the Asantehene's desires by implementing the structured laws.
A previous MOU will be reviewed in time for the loaning of objects for next year's silver jubilee of the Asantehene in Kumasi.
Asantehene conducts discussions with the British Museum regarding Ashanti regalia.
Otumfuo with Ivor Agyeman-Duah and Malcolm McLeod as technical advisors
The Museum also consented to examine and work on a technical framework developed by two of the Asantehene's advisors: the former Keeper of Ethnography at the British Museum (BM) and former Professor of History and Vice Principal of the University of Glasgow, Malcolm McLeod.
He oversaw the establishment of the Manhyia Palace Museum in 1994. Ivor Agyeman-Duah, a historian, museum economist, and development specialist, is the framework's co-technician.
As the British Museum Act prohibits the irrevocable removal of items from its collection, the technical discussions that began this week in London would also result in visits to the Manhyia Palace Museum, identification of objects at the Museum for loan agreements, and other legal ramifications.
The BM lead by Dr. Fischer would also participate in the reopening and anniversary of the Manhyia Palace Museum.
The Asantehene received a private tour of the exhibition Luxury and Power: Persia to Greece, which focuses on the Greco-Persian Wars.
The Daily Graphic has also confirmed, on behalf of the Palace, that Mr. Agyeman-Duah continued discussions in London with Dr. Tristram Hunt, Director of the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A), the world's foremost art and design institution.
Before February 2024, a bilateral agreement with the Palace would be signed.
The V&A, which has a collection of Asante regalia, is devising a concept for a February 2018 program to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the 1874 War. A group of Ghanaian and British artists would collaborate in London to create a memorial.
The following year will also commemorate the 100th anniversary of Asantehene Nana Agyeman Prempeh I's return from exile in Seychelles after twenty-seven years.
On the centenary of 1874, the late Asantehene Otumfuo Opoku Ware II made a request (return of regalia) to the Director of the British Museum, Sir John Pope-Hennessy, who along with the Trustees later organized the major exhibition, Asante Kingdom of Gold, which was opened by Opoku Ware II and the Duke of Gloucester and traveled to the Natural History Museum of New York.
As part of its cooperation with Manhyia at the time, the British Museum trained museum managers in Kumasi and Ghana, which has led to the BM International's main initiative in Africa today.