France’s National Assembly Votes to Return African Cultural Artifacts

Twenty-six of the 27 items set to be returned under the recently passed bill are housed in the Musée du Quai Branly-Jacques Chirac

The French National Assembly voted unanimously on October 7 to return 27 cultural artifacts to the countries from which they originated; 26 belong to Benin while one belongs to Senegal. The two centuries of european domination in French West and Equatorial Africa saw thousands of artifacts looted from the regions.

The artifacts returning to Bennin include statues and a throne taken from the Royal Palaces of the 17th century Kingdom of Dahomey, presently now at the Musée du Quai Branly-Jacques Chirac in Paris. Senegal will regain a sword and scabbard, currently on loan from France at the Museum of Black Civilizations in the Senegelese capital of Dakar.

Activists contend that the 27 items represent but a small fraction of the cultural artifacts stolen during the colonial period. They nevertheless acknowledge that the vote by the National Assembly represents a concrete step forwards in the process of cultural restitution. This restitution has, until now, lagged despite the wishes of former African colonies and the stated intentions of the French government. 

In November 2017, while visiting the city of Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso, French President Emmanuel Macron said that his government planned to return the pieces in question immediately. In spite of these promises, the restitution effort only recently got underway.

Bénédicte Savoy, a French art historian who helped author the government report in favor of the restitution, remarked following the bill’s passing that “perhaps the steps are small, but it seems to me that they are symbolically big.”

Despite the wishes of activists from Western Africa and moves by other European countries, such as the Netherlands, to return many of the items stolen from former colonies, the French government has indicated that this move stands in isolation. Some  government officials fear that the return of these items could open the floodgates for potential claims from other former colonies, emptying world renowned French museums in the process. 

Prior to the bill’s passing, French Minister of Culture Roselyne Bachelot, who championed the bill, described it as “neither an act of repentance nor reparation, nor a condemnation of France’s cultural model, but the beginning of a new chapter in cultural links between France and Africa.”

African leaders remain unimpressed with France’s efforts, however, with the Beninese President Patrice Talon calling the bill the “strict minimum.” 

The bill now heads to the French Senate for consideration, where it is expected to pass.