On November 4 2020, the Senate approved a bill to return several objects of Beninese and Senegalese art within one year. The senators also called for the creation of a consultative body specializing in restitution procedures.
Statues royales de l'ancien Dahomey, l'actuel Bénin, datant du XVIIIe siècle exposées au Musée du Quai-Branly. © Christophe Petit TessonMAX PPP.
The actions undertaken for the restitution of African property are continuing. Since November 2017, proceedings with Benin and Senegal concerning 27 objects have been underway. This concerns the 26 pieces from the "Trésor de Béhanzin", kept at the Quai Branly-Jacques Chirac museum in Paris, looted from the Abomey Palace by French troops at the end of the 19th century.
Michel Urtado - Thierry Ollivier - Musée Du Quai Branly-Jacques Chirac - RMN-Grand Palais-Tenture, don du roi Ghézo à Napoléon III, Abomey, vers 1850
Last week, the legal review of a bill under consideration by the French government was released: http://restitutionreport2018.com/
Rapport sur la restitution du patrimoine culturel africain. Vers une nouvelle éthique relationnelle : http://restitutionreport2018.com/sarr_savoy_fr.pdf
Caroline Cassin