six things to know about the ceremony at the Quai Branly museum

Emmanuel Macron will chair on Wednesday October 27 at the Quai Branly museum the restitution ceremony in Benin of 26 works from the royal treasures of Abomey, kept at the museum among 70,000 works from sub-Saharan Africa. This return was promised by the Head of State and allowed by a law passed at the end of 2020. What are these works and in what context does this restitution take place?

Works looted in colonial times

The works returned to Benin are statues of three kings of the former kingdom of Abomey, works of art and also sacred objects, the carved wooden thrones of kings Ghézo (1818-1858) and Glèlè (1858-1889), Afro-Brazilian style, a tripod stool, a container and lid in carved calabash, the decorated doors of King Glèlè’s palace, pieces of fabric, a leather bag …

These pieces were looted during the sacking of the Abomey Palace by the colonial troops of General Dodds in 1892, before King Béhanzin was sent into exile in Martinique and then in Algeria.

The works currently between France and Benin

The royal works of Abomey were exhibited in France as soon as they arrived at the Musée d’Ethographie du Trocadéro in 1893, then in 1895. In 1937, when the Musée de l’Homme opened, some were exhibited in display cases. In 1989, for the first time since their looting, some were loaned by the Musée de l’Homme in Abomey for an exhibition.

They were transferred to the Musée du Quai Branly when it opened in 2003. In 2006, two royal statues were presented to the public with multimedia that recounted the history of the collection. Also in 2006, works were loaned for the “Béhanzin” exhibition at the Zinsou Foundation in Cotonou. In 2012, the space dedicated to the kingdom of Danhomè at the Quai Branly museum was enlarged.

Destination: the future Abomey museum

Two Beninese curators are in France to organize the return of the works. In Benin, they will go first to a storage place, then to other places in a permanent way: to the old Portuguese fort of Ouidah and to the governor’s house, historic places of slavery and European colonization. , pending the construction of a new museum, the Museum of the Epic of the Amazons and the Kings of Danhomé, in Abomey, the historic capital of the former kingdom, one of the emblematic tourist destinations of Benin.

African heritage from 85% to 90% outside the continent

According to experts, 85 to 90% of African heritage is outside the continent. At least 90,000 objects of art from sub-Saharan Africa are in French public collections. 70,000 of them are kept at Quai Branly, of which 46,000 arrived during the colonial period.

A work to identify the works

“All the objects which are in the collections in Europe have not been stolen”, stressed in an interview with AFP the president of the Quai Branly museum, Emmanuel Kasarhérou. The museum is engaged in a research work to identify in its collections the objects acquired “problematically”.

“This consists of doing almost exhaustive work on the 300,000 works of the museum (…) to identify those which would have been taken violently without the consent of the owners, by war prizes or by coercion from the colonial administration. . It can be quite simple as for the 26 objects of Benin because it was about a military campaign which gave rise to a lot of archives. But a lot of objects were acquired second or third hand and this is much more difficult “, adds Emmanuel Kasarhérou.

The framework for the refunds in question

After President Emmanuel Macron committed to it in 2018, the French parliament approved in December 2020 the return of the 26 works to Benin. Because the patrimonial goods preserved by the Museums of France are inalienable and imprescriptible, they cannot change owner whatever the historical circumstance of their acquisition. Only a law derogating from this inalienability can allow a transfer of property.

But the senators want the restitution of cultural property to be regulated and have just tabled a transpartisan bill to this effect. They ask for the creation of a “National Council for Reflection on the Circulation and Return of Extra-European Cultural Goods” made up of experts, which would give a non-binding opinion, “in all impartiality”, on requests, before the French authorities respond to them. According to them, it would allow the diplomatic aspect not to be the only one at stake.