Two years that Ivory Coast waits for the return of the Ayôkwé djidji nicknamed the “talking drum”, whose return he demanded in 2019. It has been two years since this imposing 430 kilo and 3 meter long instrument sleeps in the reserves of the Quai Branly Museum in Paris, after having been the subject of a restoration with a view to his transfer. Confiscated in 1916 by the French army from the Ébrié community, the djidji ayôkwé would be the first beneficiary of the framework law that accelerates the restitution of works of art looted in Africa during the colonial era. Postponed until later, the French Minister of Culture, Rachida Dati, and her Ivorian counterpart, Françoise Remarck, signed, on Monday, November 18, a simple agreement to deposit the precious object in the Museum of Civilizations of the Ivory Coast. in Abidjan.
In 2017, during his speech in Ouagadougou, Emmanuel Macron committed to making possible the restitution of objects improperly placed in public collections within five years. The previous Minister of Culture, Rima Abdul Malak, drafted a bill in 2023. The Council of State, however, noted a legal defect that risks limiting its scope, since the world He revealed it in February. In the eyes of the judges of the Royal Palace, the reasons for restitution mentioned in the text, namely “the conduct of international relations and cultural cooperation”They do not justify an exception to the provisions of the general state property code, which declares cultural property entered into public collections by donation or legacy inalienable.
In itself, this legal obstacle is not insurmountable. It would be enough to include in the bill a “compelling reason” or a “higher general interest”as was the case of the framework law on human remains and property of people looted during the occupation, approved by Parliament in 2023. But the bill refrained from mentioning the colonial context, although even the majority of the requested objects come from he.
Incomprehensible delay
Since then, the reformulation of the text, as well as its consideration in Parliament, has been postponed indefinitely. “Rachida Dati did not understand the issues of memory and history that such a law entails, because it does not present any political interest for her”bellows communist senator Pierre Ouzoulias, member of the Senate’s culture committee.
You have 41.74% of this article left to read. The rest is reserved for subscribers.
