The empire-building phase of the European powers in Africa, which spanned several centuries, had its climax at the infamous Berlin Conference of 1884–1885, where the colonizers carved up and allocated the African continent among themselves as their respective colonial projects. They would subsequently invade virtually all of the continent based on this arbitrary partitioning—which, among other things, created Africa’s colonial condition. Mention must be made of the fact that uncountable numbers of artworks and artefacts were looted by the invaders from various parts of Africa during those invasions and the de facto occupations that ensued. These looted treasures were scattered all over Europe and elsewhere in museums and private collections, where they currently remain largely unaccounted for.

欧洲列强在非洲的帝国建设阶段持续了几个世纪，在臭名昭著的1884-1885年柏林会议上达到了顶峰，殖民者们在会上瓜分和分配了非洲大陆，作为各自的殖民项目。随后，他们基于这种任意的划分，入侵了几乎整个非洲大陆——这尤其造成了非洲的殖民状况。必须提及的事实是，在这些入侵和随后的事实上的占领期间，来自非洲各地的入侵者掠夺了无数的艺术品和文物。这些被掠夺的宝藏散布在欧洲各地以及其他地方的博物馆和私人收藏中，目前大部分仍下落不明。