France Promises Return of Looted Artwork to Benin

French President Emmanuel Macron was recently quoted as saying “African heritage can’t just be in European private collections and museums.” Wikimedia Commons.

French President Emmanuel Macron has agreed to return 26 cultural artifacts claimed by Benin, a former French colony in West Africa, according to the president’s office. The pieces were seized in 1892 after the French sacked the 300-year-old kingdom of Dahomey.

The announcement follows the publication of a report commissioned by the French government and compiled by historians and art experts from both Europe and Africa. Chiefly authored by French historian Bénédicte Savoy and Senegalese economist and writer Felwine Sarr, the report recommends that the French government and its European counterparts return African artifacts in their possession unless there is clear proof that they were not taken under duress.  

The report’s recommendations set a new precedent for France and other former colonial powers, which often favor policies of long-term loans to African countries over full restitution.

According to CNN, the document established a three-phased approach. First, well-known and symbolic pieces should be returned immediately to those countries which have requested them. Second, European governments should commission an international inventory of stolen pieces from former colonies. Finally, African states should submit claims of restitution.

The report also released statistics on France’s current colonial holdings. There are about 90,000 pieces of African art in French institutions, of which 70,000 are housed in a single museum, the Paris Quai Branly museum.

Overall, the authors estimate that over 90 percent of African artwork is housed outside the continent. The 26 works that Macron has promised to return to Benin constitute less than half of one percent of the 5,000 objects requested for restitution by the West African country, according to Hyperallergic magazine.

While Macron’s call for wide-scale and fast-paced restitution of cultural artifacts constitutes a promising new direction for some, others wonder whether it is simply an attempt to endear France to African countries that have veered away from their French heritage. Indeed, it is unclear whether French law will even permit Macron to unilaterally order the pieces’ restitution.

However, it appears that African cultural repatriation has long been on Macron’s agenda. During a speech that he delivered in Burkina Faso at the end of a three-day inaugural tour of West Africa in November 2017, Macron announced his intentions to “return African heritage to Africa” within five years, according to JeuneAfrique. “I cannot accept that a large part of the cultural heritage of several African countries is in France,” he said. “African heritage can’t just be in European private collections and museums.”

For Benin, which had requested repatriation of a number of stolen artifacts in July 2016, it was a promising development.

Now, the Macron administration’s apparent commitment to fulfilling these promises could represent an important step in pressuring other former European colonizers to return looted cultural artifacts. The Elysee Palace has also called for a meeting of European and African delegates in April 2019 to develop institutionalized policy regarding repatriation of stolen heritage. Whether other leaders will follow Macron’s lead remains to be seen.