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Actor Alan Cumming gives back his OBE award over ‘toxicity of empire’

Actor Alan Cumming gives back his OBE award over ‘toxicity of empire’

SCOTTISH actor Alan Cumming said he was giving back his OBE - Officer of the Order of the British Empire - award, saying his eyes had been "opened" over "the toxicity of empire". Writing on his Instagram page, the "Instinct" and "The Good Wife" actor, who also has U.S. citizenship, said that while he had been "incredibly grateful" to receive the recognition in the 2009 Queen’s birthday honours list, he had recently changed his mind. Cumming said he was awarded the OBE for his work as an actor as well as "for activism for equal rights for the gay and…
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Germany is returning Nigeria’s looted Benin Bronzes: why it’s not nearly enough

Germany is returning Nigeria’s looted Benin Bronzes: why it’s not nearly enough

AFTER years of pressure, Germany recently announced that an agreement had been reached to return hundreds of priceless artefacts and artworks that had been looted from Nigeria in colonial times and were on display in German museums. Commonly called the Benin Bronzes, these beautiful and technically remarkable artworks have come to symbolise the broader restitution debate. Why has it taken so long, will other countries follow Germany and what happens next? We asked a leading expert on colonial German history and a prominent voice in the debate around the artefacts, Dr Jürgen Zimmerer, to tell us. JÜRGEN ZIMMERER, Professor, University…
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