From left to right: Bearded Male Head. Circa 6th century CE. Smyrna, Türkiye. Marble bust. Bequest of the Marie Therese Macy Estate, 2005; removed from the Denver Art Museum and repatriated to the Republic of Türkiye, 2025. Benin artist (Nigeria), Benin Plaque, 1550–1650. Bronze; 20 1/4 in x 14 1/8 in. Work loaned out to the Denver Art Museum by the National Commission for Museums and Monuments of Nigeria in Support of the International Friendship and Collaborations Being Fostered by the Parties upon the Uncontested Return of Ancient Benin Kingdom Art to Nigeria by the Denver Art Museum. Uma-Maheshvara, India, limestone, 11th -12th century, H: 18 ¾ in, W: 11 7/8 in, D: 4 3/4 in. Gift of the Harold P. and Jane F. Ullman Collection; removed from the Denver Art Museum and repatriated back to the Republic of India, 2022.
The Lives of Objects: Provenance Research in Focus
Please join the Denver Art Museum’s Native Arts and Provenance departments, along with special guests from the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art and the Art Institute of Chicago, for a lively panel discussion on the vital role provenance research plays in museums.
The panel will examine provenance research as a cornerstone of ethical collecting and explore how it contributes to the return of objects to their rightful countries of origin. The discussion will also address the importance of fostering international relationships that extend beyond repatriation, highlighting the recent return of a plaque to the Kingdom of Benin. This will include a brief intercontinental conversation with Mr. Olugbile Holloway, Director General of the National Commission for Museums and Monuments (NCMM) of Nigeria.
Featured in-person panelists include MacKenzie Mallon, Head of Provenance for the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, and Dr. Jacques Schuhmacher, Executive Director of Provenance for the Art Institute of Chicago. They will be joined by Denver Art Museum Arts of Africa Fellow Syokau Mutonga and Provenance Research Fellow Mac Coyle, with moderation by Renée Albiston, Head of Provenance Research.
This event will be livestreamed for those unable to attend in person.
About the Speakers
Olugbile Holloway is the Director General of the National Commission for Museums and Monuments (NCMM), a position he assumed in 2024 following his appointment by President Bola Tinubu. Prior to his public service, Holloway built a career in advertising and brand consultancy, working with major Nigerian and multinational companies.
MacKenzie L. Mallon is Head of Provenance at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, where she oversees provenance research, documentation, and compliance for the museum’s permanent collection and acquisitions, with a focus on accountability and transparency. She holds an MA in Art History from the University of Missouri–Columbia.
Jacques Schuhmacher is the Executive Director of Provenance Research at the Art Institute of Chicago. In this role, he leads the Department of Provenance Research and oversees research projects across the museum’s entire collection. He previously held the position of Senior Provenance Research Curator at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and earned his doctorate from the University of Oxford.
