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
A visitors look at wooden royal statues of the Dahomey kingdom, dated 19th century, todays Benin,at Quai Branly museum in Paris, France, Friday, Nov. 23, 2018. From Senegal to Ethiopia, artists, governments and museums are eagerly awaiting a report commissioned by French President Emmanuel Macron on how former colonizers can return African art to Africa. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
French museum collections including the Louvre and Quai Branly Museum have ownership of tens of thousands of African artefacts that were plundered in the country’s colonial history.
In 2017 French president Emmanuel Macron promised to formulate a five-year plan that would see the “temporary or definitive restitution of African culture heritage to Africa” by 2022.
Africa: France Approves Return of African Treasures Looted During Colonial Period allafrica.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from allafrica.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
France is to return looted historical artefacts to Benin and Senegal after MPs backed a limited restitution to the two countries on Thursday.
Benin is to receive 26 artefacts plundered from the Palace of Behanzin in 1892, including a royal throne, which are currently exhibited at the Quai Branly-Jacques Chirac museum in Paris.
Senegal will have a 19th-century sword belonging to El Hadj Omar, a major political and military figure, returned. The sword and its sheath are in the collection of France s Army Museum but are currently exhibited in Dakar as part of a long-term loan.
Yannick Kerlogot, an MP from the ruling La Republique En Marche party who sits on the parliamentary commission for cultural affairs, described the vote as a strong act towards African and Afro-descendant youth .
okayafrica Photo by David Cliff/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM - 2020/02/13: Detail of the contentious Benin plaques exhibit (more commonly known as the Benin bronzes) at the British Museum in London. T French Government Votes in Favour of Returning Looted African Artefacts
The decision by the French government will see a Dahomey throne returned to Benin and a prized sword returned to Senegal, among several other artefacts. According to
President Emmanuel Macron s parliament voted in favour of the return of African artefacts this past Thursday. Benin will reportedly receive a throne taken in 1892 from the palace of Behanzin, the last king of what was then Dahomey. Senegal will have a sword that belonged to a 19th century sheikh returned to the country. The National Assembly had 48 votes in favour of the decision, none against and two abstentions, according to