France will return 26 works of art looted in Benin at the end of October - France 24

Montpellier (AFP)

France will return 26 works of art looted from the Abomey Palace in the 19th century to Benin at the end of October, as it committed to in 2018, French President Emmanuel Macron announced on Friday.

"At the end of October, we will return 26 treasures to Benin" in a ceremony organized in the presence of Beninese President Patrice Talon, said Mr. Macron at the Africa-France summit held in Montpellier, during a round table on restitution of looted works of art from Africa.

"We will also do it with the Ivory Coast," he added.

This announcement is part of a commitment made in November 2018 to return 26 works of art claimed by Benin, from the "Béhanzin Treasury" looted at the Abomey Palace in 1892 during the colonial wars.

This decision followed a report from academics Bénédicte Savoy, from the Collège de France, and Felwine Sarr, from the University of Saint-Louis in Senegal.

The two specialists had laid the groundwork for a return to sub-Saharan Africa of works of early art transferred during colonization, listing tens of thousands of works potentially concerned.

Emmanuel Macron during the Africa-France summit in Montpellier on October 8, 2021 Ludovic MARIN AFP

In December 2020, the French Parliament approved the return of these 26 pieces to Benin, now kept at the Quai Branly-Jacques Chirac museum in Paris.

"They will be the pride of Benin. And because returning works to Africa is to make their culture accessible to African youth, these returns will also be the pride of France", added Mr. Macron in a tweet. .

The restitution of works of art looted from Africa is one of the salient points of the "new relationship" that the French head of state intends to forge with the continent.

© 2021 AFP