By RFIPosted on 16-12-2019Changed on 16-12-2019 at 07:21

The French Minister of Culture, Franck Riester, arrived in Cotonou on Sunday, December 15 in the afternoon. A visit devoted in part to the file of the restitution of cultural property looted in 1892 in the royal palaces of Abomey.

Until a law authorizes the restitution of cultural property looted in 1892, France and Benin want to mark the blow on this file . An exhibition or a loan of some of the works concerned could be organized in Cotonou or in another Beninese city. These are the most emblematic works in the collection of General Dodds, named after that French general who led the battle for the conquest of Dahomey by deposing King Gbéhanzin d'Abomey in the 1890s. Franck Riester discusses them with the Beninese authorities during his stay.

Long-term loan

In addition, Paris is also in favor of a long-term loan of the 26 works that the French president has promised to return quickly to Benin. All this was formulated by the Minister of Culture in a letter dated July 1, after a mission, carried out in Benin three months earlier by officials from the Musée du Quai-Branly - Jacques-Chirac and two French ministries, Business Europeans and Justice.

According to our information, while waiting for France to modify its Heritage Code which will allow it to remove the works concerned from the public domain, it is a question of showing the Beninese that the return of the works is a reality and that President Emmanuel Macron is keen to honor its commitment made in Ouagadougou on November 28, 2017. A work program has been drawn up to this end, it will probably be signed at the end of the visit on Monday December 16, if the two parties agree on the terms and calendar.

Franck Riester received by Patrice Talon

The interlocutors on the Beninese side are the Minister of Culture, that of Foreign Affairs and the committee in charge of the restitution of works and museum cooperation chaired by Nouréni Serpos, a former senior official of Unesco. According to the program of the visit, the French minister should be received by President Patrice Talon, whose country was the first to express a request for restitution before the conclusions of the Sarr-Savoy report.

► Restitution of works of art in Benin: France takes a step further

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