Artefact Biographies and Curation of Heritage Objects at the National Museum Benin City, Edo State

The concept of artefact biography, tracing the social life of objects through their production, use, exchange, deposition, and collection histories, offers a powerful analytical framework for understanding the meanings and values that heritage objects accrue across time and in different social contexts. This study applies biographical analysis to a select group of heritage objects at the National Museum in Benin City, Edo State, tracing the documented and inferable histories of thirty objects from their suspected contexts of manufacture and primary use through their collection, colonial transfer histories where applicable, and current museum curation. Objects were selected to represent the diversity of the museum's collections, including Benin bronze castings, carved ivory objects, terracotta heads, wooden regalia, and iron tools. Biographical reconstruction draws on museum accession records, published excavation reports, colonial administrative correspondence, and art historical literature, supplemented by interviews with museum curators and Benin Palace cultural officers. Findings reveal complex and often contested object histories, with a significant proportion of objects carrying unresolved questions about the circumstances of their acquisition during and after the 1897 Benin Expedition. The study engages with current global debates about repatriation, noting that several objects in the collection have been the subject of formal return requests from the Benin Royal Palace, and examines how biographical analysis can inform more nuanced and historically accountable approaches to repatriation dialogue. Keywords: artefact biography, museum curation, Benin City, Benin bronzes, repatriation.