By Sabine CessouPosted on 28-04-2019Modified on 28-04-2019 at 18:55

More than six months after the publication of the Sarr-Savoy report on the restitution of African works of art in France, where are we? Concrete actions are beginning to be taken, in France as in Africa. Visiting Dakar, Belgian Guido Gryseels, director of the AfricaMuseum in Brussels, approves the return of certain symbolic objects and says "possible" the opening of the massive inventory of his institution, 180 000 pieces, to African national museums .

The return of African art objects held by major museums in former colonial cities has become a hot potato since the publication of the report by Felwine Sarr and Bénédicte Savoy in October. And this, beyond the case of France and the 90,000 coins acquired during colonization, which is the report.

► See also: Cultural goods: the Savoy-Sarr report refers to definitive refunds

While Germany and the Netherlands are ahead of the game, organizing themselves to return coins - sometimes unconditional - in London and Brussels, the question is open to debate . Should temporary refunds, loans to African museums, digitize the archives, open inventories of European museums so that African museums can see more clearly in their own heritage? Pending the conference planned in Paris for 2019 between the actors concerned, concrete actions are beginning to be taken.

Short-term symbolic renditions

Emmanuel Macron, who commissioned the Sarr-Savoy report, announced last November the return of 26 works in Benin . The request was made in 2016, but initially rejected. In the lot are three statues of the kings of Abomey, the god Gou, thrones and gates taken by French soldiers in 1892. They landed at the Museum of Man and Quai Branly, so it had to to separate.

Benin is one of the most proactive countries in terms of restitution. In September, it formed a committee for museum cooperation with France, whose first mission is to draw up a complete inventory of the works and cultural property concerned. Côte d'Ivoire has already compiled a list of 148 works it wants to recover, while Burkina Faso, Mali and Gabon have created commissions.

The restitution of 26 works in Benin is only a first step. It should be followed by others, as recommended by the Sarr-Savoy report, which has drawn up a precise list of 25 works, which include not only 11 items returned to Benin, but also items seized by force during the period Nigeria, Ethiopia, Senegal, Mali and Cameroon. Among these objects heavy with sense for the countries from which they come, 518 manuscripts, relics and the saber that belonged to El Hadj Omar Tall (1797-1864). This scholar of Islam, a warlord who resisted the colonial army, is a hero of the national history of Senegal.

The director of the AfricaMuseum in Dakar

Guido Gryseels, director of the AfricaMuseum in Brussels, went to Dakar on April 24 to participate in a dialogue with Felwine Sarr and his counterpart Hamady Bocoum, director of the Museum of Civilizations of Black Africa in Dakar. An occasion still rare of direct and especially public discussion, wanted by Youssou N'Dour, singer and former Minister of Culture and Tourism, during the Dakar / Afrika-Innovation Forum which he organized around tourism in Senegal.

Guido Gryseels announced that it was " feasible " to open the colossal inventory of the 180,000 AfricanMuseum pieces for African museums. These patches of the former Belgian colonies (Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi and Rwanda) are mostly stored in the reserves of the AfricaMuseum.

" We are open to a physical return of some symbolic objects," said Guido Gryseels. Analyzes have been done by the AfricaMuseum to find out where its collections come from, looted or taken away by missionaries without knowing very well under what conditions. Impressed by the quality of the Museum of Black Civilizations in Dakar, Guido Gryseels, however, cast a damper to his opening proposals: " The conditions of museums in Africa are absolutely terrible, and the Congo for example does not have a museum yet. national. "

The argument is disputed by Felwine Sarr, whose report has mapped 500 museums in Africa, most of which are in good condition. " This generalization by the deficit is exaggerated , he says, we always insist too much on what is wrong in Africa, without seeing everything that goes well. Nevertheless, Felwine Sarr praised Guido Gryseels' progressive approach of bringing contemporary African art into the AfricaMuseum.

" The most tense in the debate that followed the report were the managers of major Western museums ," he said. Tense, it's an understatement. Some were hysterical because they could not consider that these objects, which they were the guardians, had to legitimately leave. "Evoking a difficult work on the history that remains to be done in France, Felwine Sarr believes that these museums are" sitting on reserves of which they expose only 10%, and nobody benefits ".

Hamady Bocoum, director of the Museum of Black Civilizations in Dakar, also paid tribute to the " courageous " work of the AfricaMuseum. And added: " Conservatives and colonial museum officials, we know some who are like the Dogons: there is the door in front and the true word. In other words, diplomatic speech is different from deep thought.

    On the same subject

    Belgium: the return of African heritage in debate

    Cultural goods: the Savoy-Sarr report mentions definitive restitutions

    Restitution of cultural property: the Savoy-Sarr report, a controversy in sight

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