Royal Visit from Cameroon in Humboldt Forum
News from 11/23/2022
King of the Cameroonian Nso' people saw the Ngonnso' statue at the Humboldt Forum for the first time on November 12, 2022.
It was a long-awaited, a well-nigh historic trip for Fon Sehm Mbinglo I. On Saturday, November 12, for the first time since he ascended the throne more than 30 years ago, the king of the Cameroonian Nso' people came to see the Ngonnso' statue at the Humboldt Forum with a delegation from his native country. The roughly one-meter-high wooden figure encrusted with cowry shells is revered by the Nso' as a mother goddess, and its return has been demanded for a long time. The figure has been in the collection of the Ethnologisches Museum (Ethnological Museum) of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin (National Museums in Berlin) since 1903, but the Foundation Board of the SPK has recently cleared the way for the imminent restitution of the statue. Negotiations with the Cameroonian side are currently underway.