Hotel of the plundered artefact

From 6 February to 24 May 2026, the temporary exhibition rooms at the National Anthropology Museum will be putting on an exhibition of work by artist Agnes Essonti as part of the special programme marking the Museum's 150th anniversary.

Since Agnes Essonti began researching the restitution of plundered artefacts, especially in Spain’s ethnological museums, the artist has focused much of her interest on pieces that had previously possessed magical, spiritual and energetic dimensions, as well as a community function. Her attention to these objects emerges through a search for alternative forms of communication that are not based solely on words, and from the relevance that community and collectivity have in the construction of Afro-descendant identities.

In this exhibition, the artist harnesses the power of the image, which strikes up a dialogue with objects from the National Museum of Anthropology and others created by Essonit herself that, from the perspective of Afro-descendants, are linked to Central Africa, her ancestral land.

Image Credits:

• Take charge. Agnes Essonti