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Saving Antiquities for Everyone-Looted memorial statues returned to Kenyan family
10.01.09 14:51
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Looted memorial statues returned to Kenyan
family
by MONICA UDVARDY AND LINDA GILES
Ancestral memorial statues (vigango) erected by the Mijikenda peoples of
Kenya are frequently stolen and sold to international art dealers. During
the summer of 2007, the National Museums of Kenya (NMK) returned two
vigango, which had been in the collections of two American museums, to a
Mijikenda family in a rural Kenyan village. We give the history of these two
stolen statues, including their theft and rediscovery, the efforts leading to
their repatriation, and the joyful return ceremony. We also describe how
this case inspired the return of nine more vigango from an American family
to the NMK, and examine the current status of efforts to protect vigango.
On June 20, 2007, much celebration accompanied the National Museums
of Kenya's (NMK) return of two stolen ancestral memorial statues
(vigango, singular kigango, Kigiriama) to a Giriama family near Kaloleni, in
the Kenyan coastal hinterland. Returned by two American museums, the
two vigango were, according to the NMK Director General Dr. Idle Omar
Farah, the first stolen artifacts ever returned to Kenya from the United
States. The ceremony drew hundreds of local celebrants and included
speeches, performances by local dance troupes, and feasting. The
Minister of Tourism and Wildlife, the Honorable Morris Dzoro, delivered
the keynote speech. Other dignitaries attending included the NMK Board
Chairman, Mr. Issa Timamy, and Ambassador Husein Dado, Senior
Deputy Secretary of the Ministry of State for National Heritage. The NMK’s
Mombasa branch, under the direction of Mr. Philip Jimbi Katana, made
elaborate preparations for the ceremony, including building a steel
enclosure in the homestead to protect the returned vigango from further
theft.
The ceremony concluded a long and concerted effort by ourselves and our
Kenyan colleague, John Baya Mitsanze (a Giriama and senior curator with
the NMK) to have the two statues repatriated and to heighten global
awareness of the theft of vigango and other non-Western cultural
property.
Vigango are carved and erected to incarnate the spirits of deceased
members of Gohu, a male semi-secret society, and are considered sacred
by the Giriama and other northern Mijikenda peoples.
“As this case of the involuntary
voyage of Kalume's vigango
demonstrates, the desire in the
West for non-Western cultural
property is upsetting local
populations and stripping them of
their tangible cultural heritage.”
Monica Udvardy
Kalume and his vigango, 1985
M. Udvardy
The nine Mijikenda subgroups and
their respective ritual centers (makaya,
sing. kaya) at the end of the 19th
century (adapted from Spear 1978:87).
Chalani area is between the Giriama
and Chonyi makaya. Map formatted by
Illinois State University Graphics for
Giles and Mitsanze 2001
The two returned vigango were stolen more than twenty years ago, in
1985. By sheer coincidence, Monica Udvardy had photographed them at
the Giriama homestead of Kalume Mwakiru shortly before their theft while
she was conducting research on Mijikenda gendered secret societies. We
(Udvardy and Linda Giles) discovered the vigango fifteen years later in the
African collections of the Illinois State University Museum (later transferred
to the Illinois State Museum in Springfield) and the Hampton University
Museum in Virginia.
In 2006, we located the Mwakiru family, and later delivered to the NMK’s
Mombasa branch the family's written appeal to have their stolen vigango
returned. NMK Principal Curator of Coastal Sites and Monuments, Mr.
Philip Jimbi Katana, then wrote the official request to the two American
museums. The Illinois State Museum readily agreed to the request, and
on September 13, 2006, an eight-person delegation, headed by Kenya’s
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Saving Antiquities for Everyone-Looted memorial statues returned to Kenyan family
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on September 13, 2006, an eight-person delegation, headed by Kenya’s
Minister of State for National Heritage, Suleiman Shakombo, and the
Kenyan Ambassador to the United States, Peter Ogego, traveled to
Springfield to collect the kigango. At that time, Hampton University refused
to return their kigango or even to meet the delegation. However, shortly
after the Kenyan delegation left the United States, Hampton bowed to
public pressure and shipped the kigango to Kenya.
Left to Right: Monica Udvardy and
Linda Giles pose with with Gohu elders
and two Mijikenda memorial statues
called vigango (June 20, 2007)
The NMK’s actions concerning the Mwakiru vigango demonstrate a new
focus on recovering Kenya’s cultural heritage not only for the NMK itself,
but also on behalf of individuals, families, and ethnic groups. In another
recent case, the NMK assisted in the return of regalia of Nandi resistance
hero Koitalel arap Samoei from a British family to Nandi elders in 2006.
Return to the top
Tracing the path of the Mwakiru vigango
Most vigango are stolen by unemployed Mijikenda male youths and sold
to shops and markets in the coastal cities and in the capital, Nairobi,
which then sell them to Western dealers and collectors. Most of the
vigango in the United States have been imported by a dealer based in
southern California. This dealer has sold many of the vigango to private
individuals, including several associated with the Hollywood film industry;
these individuals often then donate them to museums. Records from the
Illinois State University Museum show that the actor Powers Boothe
donated one of the Mwakiru vigango and seven other vigango to the
Museum in 1986. The other Mwakiru kigango was donated to Hampton
University Museum by an undisclosed individual in the same year;
Museum records indicate that it was one of ninety-four vigango collected
by the American dealer among the ninety-nine total vigango acquired by
the Museum between 1979 and 1987.
N. Thomas Håkansson
A large audience gathered at the
Mwakiru homestead at Chalani, a small
village in Kilifi district, southeastern
Kenya, to greet and applaud the return
of the two vigango to their original
owners (June 20, 2007)
Return to the top
Media attention and more vigango repatriation
Our efforts to return these vigango have received widespread attention
from the news media. In 2006, Mike Pflanz, the East African
correspondent for the Daily Telegraph (London) and the Christian Science
Monitor, visited the Mwakirus and published a story in both papers about
their stolen vigango and our research on vigango in U.S. museum
collections. NMK curator John Baya Mitsanze also took Pflanz and a
photographer to the Giriama homestead of Karisa Disii Ngowa to
photograph several recently erected vigango. After Pflanz’s articles
appeared, we were deluged with requests for interviews by the news
media.
Linda Giles
A dancer from one of the many Giriama
dance troupes who performed at the
repatriation ceremony in Chalani to
celebrate the return of the two vigango
(June 20, 2007)
Probably the most important coverage was by the New York Times. Marc
Lacey, the New York Times East African Bureau chief at the time,
researched the story and visited the Mwakiru and Ngowa families with
Mitsanze and a photographer. At the Ngowa homestead, however, they
discovered that the vigango had been stolen soon after Pflanz’s visit.
Lacey’s article about vigango theft, which described the vigango loss of
both Giriama families, was published on page 4 of the 2006 Easter
Sunday edition. At the same time, Lacey launched a multimedia,
interactive version of the story on the New York Times website which ran
for three months.
Other news media reporting the story include Kenya’s national daily
newspapers, radio interviews, and discussion on the BBC and NPR. At
least fifty special interest blogs and websites have discussed the issue
from the perspectives of art history, archaeology, African Studies, and
cultural anthropology.
Linda Giles
Another of the many Giriama dance
troupes who performed at the return
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Saving Antiquities for Everyone-Looted memorial statues returned to Kenyan family
The media attention has raised general public awareness about the
devastating impact on local communities due to the widespread global
marketing of African cultural heritage.
10.01.09 14:51
troupes who performed at the return
ceremony in Chalani (June 20, 2007)
It has also led to the voluntary return of nine more vigango from the
private African art collection of American producers/screenwriters Lewis
and Jay Allen, after Connecticut art dealer Kelly Gingras discovered the
Mwakiru case on the Internet while preparing an exhibit at her
Insiders/Outsiders Art Gallery. Gingras notified the daughter of the late
couple, Brooke Allen, who agreed that the statues should be returned to
Kenya. Allen and Gingras handed the statues over to the Kenyan
Ambassador during a ceremony at the United Nations headquarters in
New York City in June of 2007, an event that was also covered by the
New York Times.
Linda Giles
Ambassador Husein Dado, Senior
Deputy Secretary of the Ministry of
State for National Heritage
There are also indications that the media attention has affected other
African art dealers. In October 2007, Linda Giles contacted several African
art dealers in New York City about Kenyan artifacts for sale. None of the
dealers mentioned having any vigango. An employee of the Pace Primitive
Gallery volunteered the information that Kenyan “funerary statues” could
no longer be sold. He noted that some of these statues had just recently
been returned to Kenya and that it appeared that the statues should never
have been collected in the first place.
Return to the top
Current challenges
In spite of these successes, there are still many vigango in museums and
private collections in the United States, Europe, and Kenya. We have
been able to verify the presence of more than 400 vigango in various
American museums, but there is no information about the families from
whom they were stolen. This demonstrates the need to photograph
vigango still in situ.
Though Kenya's passage and enactment of a national heritage
bill protecting various aspects of natural and cultural heritage is an
excellent step, its application is hindered by its lack of a list of specific
artifacts covered. Hence, vigango do not currently receive special
protection through inclusion in a red list. We are also unaware of any
efforts to prevent the sale of vigango and other stolen or endangered
cultural items in the many curio and art shops catering to tourists and
collectors.
Linda Giles
Principle Curator of Coastal Sites and
Monuments, Mr. Philip
Jimbi Katana speaking in Chalani
during the ceremony
Return to the top
References
Pogrebin, Robin, 2007. 9 statues uprooted from Africa head home. New York Times,
June 26, Arts section: B1.
Giles, Linda, Monica Udvardy, and John Mitsanze, 2004. Cultural property as global
commodities: The case of Mijikenda memorial statues. Cultural Survival Quarterly, 27.4
(Winter): 78-82.
Pflanz, Mike, 2006. Kenyans welcome home sacred relics stolen by British. Telegraph,
April 15, News section.
Lacey, Marc, 2006. The case of the stolen statues: Solving a Kenyan mystery. New
York Times, April 16: 4.
Udvardy, Monica, Linda Giles, and John Mitsanze, 2003. The transatlantic trade in
African ancestors: Mijikenda memorial statues (vigango) and the ethics of collecting
and curating non-Western cultural property. American Anthropologist, 105.3: 566-80.
Pflanz, Mike, 2006. Theft of sacred vigango angers Kenyan villagers. Christian Science
Monitor, March 2.
Linda Giles
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Biography
Monica Udvardy and Linda Giles are anthropologists who
work in the East African coastal area. Monica Udvardy is an
Associate Professor in the Department of Anthropology and
Director of the International Studies Program at University of
Kentucky. Linda Giles is an Adjunct Assistant Professor at
Illinois Wesleyan University and Independent Scholar. Their
research on vigango theft has often been conducted in
conjunction with Kenyan John Mitsanze (National Museums of Kenya). The
authors gratefully acknowledge the copy editing of this article by SAFE
volunteer writer/editor Susan Timberlake.
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