12/17/2020
French Senate Blocks Restitution of 27 Artifacts to Benin and Senegal in Dispute with National Assembly Breaking News
The French Senate has blocked a highly anticipated bill that would return 27 colonial-era artefacts in museum collections to Benin and Senegal, after the two houses of Parliament clashed over the terms of the new law. The dispute further delays President Emmanuel Macron’s landmark commitment in 2017 to ensure the “temporary or definitive restitution of African heritage to Africa” before his mandate expires in 2022.
If passed, the bill would compel France to return 26 royal artefacts plundered in 1892 by French troops from the palace of Abomey in present-day Benin, currently held at the Musée du Quai Branly-Jacques Chirac in Paris, as well as the sword of a west African military commander, which is already on loan to the Museum of Black Civilisations in Dakar from France’s Army Museum. New laws are needed to remove individual obj
French parliament gave the restitution bill its final approval today
France will return 27 colonial-era artefacts in museums to Benin and Senegal within one year, following a unanimous vote by the National Assembly on 17 December. Overriding late opposition from the Senate, the National Assembly gave its final approval to a restitution bill transferring ownership of 26 plundered royal artefacts from the Musée du Quai Branly-Jacques Chirac to the Republic of Benin and a sword from the Army Museum to Senegal.
In a preliminary address to the house, French culture minister Roselyne Bachelot hailed a bill that “marks the culmination of a long process” and “embodies a new ambition in our cultural relations with the African continent”. On a visit to Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, in November 2017, President Emmanuel Macron made a landmark pledge to return African heritage to Africa. But the process of restitution has been obstructed by France’s heritage code, which cons
French Senate blocks restitution of 27 artefacts to Benin and Senegal in dispute with National Assembly theartnewspaper.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from theartnewspaper.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
The French government recently returned the crown of Madagascar’s last queen, Ranavalona III, via diplomatic channels, bypassing Parliament
UPDATE: France will return 27 colonial-era artefacts in museums to Benin and Senegal within one year, following a
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CORRECTION: This article mistakenly stated that the French Senate had blocked the restitution bill. The Senate approved the restitutions, but added an amendment to the bill that the government refused. The National Assembly has the power to override the Senate, as it did on 17 December by voting through the restitution bill. The article also wrongly conflated the Senate’s decision on the bill on 15 December with its separate presentation of an information report on the issue of restitution on 16 December. The article has been updated to rectify these errors.