President Patrice Talon of Benin and French President Emmanuel Macron met on Tuesday to formally sign a deal to retrieve 26 artworks stolen from the former French colony’s Palace of Abomey, which is now known as a UNESCO World Heritage site.The 26 antiques were on exhibit at the Quai Branly museum in Paris in the run-up to Tuesday’s event, having been retrieved from a hoard of objects seized by French forces in 1892. They will be delivered to the West African country in the days to come.The move to return colonial treasure was made in response to rising pressure from African governments to return colonial loot from museums in Europe.It’s part of French President Emmanuel Macron’s strategy to improve France’s reputation in Africa, especially among the youth population.
Behanzin’s throne, along with three totemic sculptures, four palace doors, several portable altars, and three warrior dancing staffs, is among the treasures from Dahomey’s kingdom in present-day Benin.
As curators assist in the preparation of artifacts for their return to Benin, they add, “Everyone is waiting for them.”
According to the Élysée, Macron’s commitment to letting Africans see their cultural wealth at home instead of in the European museums “marks a key step in building a new cooperation between France and Africa.”
Macron stated last month that a “talking drum” cherished by the Ebrie people of Ivory Coast, which was also on exhibit in the Quai Branly, would be returned.
The move to return paintings of “universal” interest has been questioned by certain museum directors.
Emmanuel Kasarherou, President of the Quai Branly, praised the “soul-searching” about the provenance of artworks that such calls have inspired.
The Quai Branly, which houses a vast collection of African antiques, has launched a comprehensive evaluation of its 300,000-item holdings.
“Find works alleged to have been taken via violence, without the owners’ consent, as war booty, or under the colonial administration’s force,” Kasarherou added.
“Not every piece in a European collection has been taken,” he emphasized, “but what fraction of them has been stolen?” Things our mission to figure it out.”Since his victory in 2017, Macron has gone further than his predecessors in apologizing for historical French misdeeds in Africa.
He vowed to allow the return of African cultural riches within five years in an address to students in Burkina Faso shortly after taking office.
According to a survey commissioned by Macron, French museums house roughly 90,000 African pieces, with 70,000 of them in the Quai Branly alone.
The requests for restitution culminated in a vote in the French parliament last year, in which MPs majority supported sending a set of artefacts to Benin and Senegal, both of which were once French colonies.
Macron expects that the 26 antiques taken from the Abomey palace would be “the glory of Benin” if they are recovered.
They will be displayed at several locations in Benin, including an old Portuguese fort in Ouidah, which was once a slave-trading centre, while a museum in Abomey is being built to house them.
Talon, the president of Benin, has already stated that he is “not pleased” with France’s “modest moves” and has urged Macron to go much further.