France hands back 26 artworks looted from Benin 130 years ago

France on Tuesday handed back 26 treasures that were looted from Benin during colonial times, fulfilling a promise made by President Emmanuel Macron to restore a lost part of Africa’s heritage. Benin President Patrice Talon and Culture Minister Jean-Michel Abimbola travelled to Paris to bring home the artefacts that were snatched by French forces 130 years ago. Talon said he felt “overwhelming emotion” at recovering the objects taken during the ransacking of the kingdom of Dahomey in the south of present-day Benin, including a royal throne. Speaking to reporters at the presidential palace in Paris, where France signed over the artefacts to Benin, Talon said the treasures were much more than cultural goods – the term used by France to describe them. “This is our soul, Mr President,” he said, flanked by Macron. The French leader hailed “a symbolic, moving and historic moment” which had been long-awaited by Africans. The return of the pieces taken from Abomey palace, which also include three totemic statues, comes as calls mount in Africa for European countries to return the colonial spoils lining their museum shelves. In France, most are held by the Quai Branly museum, which has begun a major review of its collection to identify works believed to have been acquired through violence or coercion. French lawmakers last year passed a bill allowing Paris to return artefacts to both Benin and Senegal, another former French colony in West Africa. I get goosebumps at the prospect of being able to see these royal treasures up close. I can die in peace once I have seen them An elder of Benin’s Dah Adohouannon community Talon made clear that he saw Tuesday’s handover as just the first step in a large-scale restitution process, asking “how do you expect my enthusiasm to be complete” when France still held other key artefacts. But he added he was “confident” that further restitutions would follow. “Beyond this handover, we will continue the work”, Macron promised. In Benin’s capital Cotonou, the return of the prized works was hotly anticipated. “I get goosebumps at the prospect of being able to see these royal treasures up close, particularly our ancestors’ thrones. It’s unbelievable,” said an elder of the Dah Adohouannon community. “At 72 years, I can die in peace once I have seen them.” The restitution is part of a drive by Macron to improve his country’s image in Africa, especially among young people. Before being packed up for the long journey home the works were shown at the Quai Branly for one last time in late October. In Benin, they will be exhibited at various sites, including a former Portuguese fort in the city of Ouidah, once a slave-trading hub, while awaiting the completion of a museum in Abomey to house them. In Britain, you’re never more than 150km away from a looted African object Experts estimate that 85 to 90 per cent of African cultural artefacts were taken from the continent. Some were seized by colonial administrators, troops or doctors and passed down to descendants who in turn donated them to museums in Europe. But others were presented as gifts to missionaries or acquired by African art collectors at the start of the 20th century or discovered during scientific expeditions. An expert report commissioned by Macron counted some 90,000 African works in French museums, 70,000 of them at the Quai Branly alone. ‘Doesn’t belong to us’: Belgium to return all stolen art from Congo Britain, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany have also received requests from African countries to return lost treasures. Nigeria said last month it had agreed with Germany on the return of hundreds of so-called Benin Bronzes – metal plaques and sculptures from the 16th to 18th centuries that were stolen from the palace of the ancient Benin Kingdom in present-day Nigeria. Belgium has announced plans to return several objects looted from what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo. Looted art A look at other disputes over artefacts looted from Europe’s former African colonies: France In 2016 Benin demanded the repatriation of a part of its treasures from the Kingdom of Dahomey. They include totems, sceptres and sacred doors from the Royal Palaces of Aboma which are held at the Quai Branly museum in Paris. French troops took them between 1892 and 1894. On Tuesday Macron hosted his Beninese counterpart Patrice Talon for a ceremony to return 26 of the treasures. A 2018 report by French experts recommended a change in the law and the return of artefacts held in museums to Africa. Ivory Coast has also requested the return of more than 100 works of art, and Senegal has asked France to return all works taken from there. Britain In the first such move by a UK institution, a Cambridge University college last month handed back a bronze cockerel to Nigerian officials that had been looted in the 19th century. It was taken along with hundreds of sacred sculptures and carvings known as the Benin Bronzes during a British military expedition in the former kingdom of Benin in southern Nigeria in 1897. A day after the Cambridge move, the University of Aberdeen in Scotland handed another Benin bronze to the same Nigerian delegation. His ancestor’s sword was taken by the British Raj, now he wants it back Thousands of Benin Bronzes are held in museums across the United States and Europe. The British Museum, which has the largest collection, refuses to return any of its bronzes. It has long argued that its vast trove of foreign artefacts, such as the Elgin Marbles taken from the Parthenon in Athens, are best housed there. Germany Nigeria has also pushed for around 1,000 Benin Bronzes to be returned from Germany. In September Berlin agreed to give back hundreds, starting next July. Belgium Belgium, which amassed thousands of objects during its brutal colonisation of what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo, is looking at ways of returning artefacts. The process could take years.