By RFPosted on 24-11-2018Modified on 24-11-2018 at 00:38

Emmanuel Macron has decided to return 26 works claimed by Benin, announced Friday evening the Elysee in a statement shortly after the submission of the report on the return of cultural property to Africa.

The two rapporteurs Bénédicte Savoy and Felwine Sarr had expressed confidence in their exit from the Elysée Palace on the future of their report. The following proved them right. The President of the Republic Emmanuel Macron welcomed the work of memory reflection undertaken and announced the return of 26 works in Benin. General Dodds took war in the palace of Behanzin, after the bloody fighting of 1892.

Bénédicte Savoy and Felwine Sarr, who had left the Elysee barely two hours before this announcement, let their joy burst out. " This announcement of restitution of objects taken during a military looting during the colonial period, it is a historical restitution and one can almost compare that to the fall of the wall of Berlin ", estimates Bénédicte Savoy. " It's really a historic moment because history is starting in the present. And what is playing is absolutely fundamental from a symbolic point of view, says Felwine Sarr. And this will also have an impact in the other fields of the relationship. "

→ Cultural goods : the Savoy-Sarr report mentions definitive restitutions

The Presidency ensures that these 26 works will be returned without delay. How to do while French law does not allow refunds for now? " One of the tracks," says Felwine Sarr, " would be to make a long-term deposit of these objects that would be deposited in the Benin museums, the time that the law passes in the legislative calendar and that it is voted, with the commonly shared idea that these objects will not come back. A long-term deposit with a renewable lease is a legal solution. "

The operational and, if necessary, legislative measures will be taken so that these works can return to Benin, promises the Elysee.

→ A. Agbenonci: Cultural goods, "we must salute the courage of President Macron"

Emmanuel Macron also took the opportunity to reiterate his commitment to Ouagadougou: " African youth have access to Africa and not only to Europe's own heritage and the common heritage of humanity ".

To do this, he said he was in favor of all forms of circulation of works, whether restitution, loans, exchanges, deposits or exhibitions. In this process, the Ministries of Culture and Foreign Affairs will play a leading role, as will the museums that will be responsible for identifying African partners and organizing the circulation of works.

But the Elysee does not intend to limit this process to only Hexagon. In its statement, the presidential palace evokes the need for extensive work with other European states. Paris proposes to bring together Africans and Europeans to build together " this new relationship and this exchange policy ". An appointment that could take place in the first quarter of 2019.

    On the same subject

    Restitution of works of art: a report that raises a lot of hope in Africa

    A. Agbenonci: Cultural goods, "we must salute the courage of President Macron"

    The musée du Quai Branly and the restitution of African works of art

    On the front page: the return of African heritage

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