As expected.
Announced in July 2020, the restitution by France of 26 works of art looted in Benin during the sack of the palace of the kings of Abomey by French colonial troops in 1892 will take place "at the end of October", a explained this Friday Emmanuel Macron.
The president made this announcement while participating this Friday in the Africa-France summit, organized in Montpellier (Hérault).
At the end of October, the 26 works of the Abomey Treasury will return to their country.
They will be the pride of Benin.
And because returning works to Africa means making their culture accessible to African youth, these restitutions will also be the pride of France.
pic.twitter.com/oCGCqep0bD
- Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) October 8, 2021
These totems and specters, currently kept at the Quai Branly-Jacques Chirac Museum in Paris, will then be exhibited in a public place in Benin.
A ceremony organized in the presence of Beninese President Patrice Talon.
"We will also do it with the Ivory Coast", also added President Macron.
These restitutions are part of Emmanuel Macron's stated desire to restore cultural works taken during colonization in Africa.
He had notably affirmed his ambition during his speech in Ouagadougou, on November 28, 2017, during which he had pleaded for a re-foundation of the cultural partnership between France and Africa.
"One of the essential challenges for a new friendly relationship between France and Africa"
When announcing this return in the summer of 2020, Gabriel Attal, government spokesperson, explained that this restitution "corresponds to a very strong commitment made by the President of the Republic so that African youth have the possibility to access its heritage, its history, in Africa ”.
It is "one of the essential issues for a new friendly relationship between France and Africa," he added.
This decision followed a report from academics Bénédicte Savoy, from the Collège de France, and Felwine Sarr, from the University of Saint-Louis in Senegal.
The two specialists had laid the groundwork for a restitution to sub-Saharan Africa of first works of art transferred during colonization, listing tens of thousands of works potentially concerned.
In December 2020, the French Parliament approved the return of these 26 pieces to Benin, now kept at the Quai Branly-Jacques Chirac museum in Paris.
“They will be the pride of Benin.
And because returning works to Africa means making their culture accessible to African youth, these renditions will also be the pride of France, ”added Mr. Macron in a tweet.
The restitution of works of art looted from Africa is one of the salient points of the “new relationship” that the French Head of State intends to forge with the continent.