Benin: Patrice Talon inaugurates the exhibition of works returned by France

Beninese President Patrice Talon inaugurates the exhibition of works returned by France on February 19, 2022 in Cotonou.

AFP - PIUS UTOMI EKPEI

Text by: RFI Follow

1 min

The 26 cultural assets returned to Benin last November by France have been on display in the village hall of the presidential palace since Saturday morning.

Patrice Talon inaugurated it with several guests including Roselyne Bachelot, French Minister of Culture.

From this Sunday, February 20, the exhibition called "Art of Benin, yesterday and today, from restitution to revelation" is open to the public.

Advertising

Read more

With our correspondent in Cotonou,

Roselyne Bachelot, amazed, did the whole route with Patrice Talon and the guides.

The exhibition is held in a space of more than 2,000 m2, completely transformed into a museum of international standards.

A Beninese, connoisseur, even launched: “ 

 »

There are two rooms.

It is in the first that the 26 royal treasures are exhibited.

The imposing ceremonial throne of Ghezo, and the gates of the palaces of Abomey, have had great success.

In room 2, around a hundred works by Benin's greatest contemporary artists are exhibited.

There have been many comments on the presence of former President Nicéphore Soglo, author of regular pamphlets against the Head of State.

And on the presence also of Lionel Zinsou, challenger of Patrice Talon during the presidential election of 2016. Questioned, Mr. Zinsou replied: “ 

 »

It's an aesthetic shock but it's also a political shock in the noble sense of the term, a shock of exchange, to see these works return home and find them in a magnificently arranged exhibition.

Roselyne Bachelot, French Minister of Culture

Jean-Luc Aplogan

Newsletter

Receive all the international news directly in your mailbox

I subscribe

Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application

google-play-badge_FR

• Benign

• France

• Culture

• Arts