The day of the reunion has arrived. For the first time in nearly one hundred and thirty years, Beninese will be able to admire the 26 works that French colonial troops looted at the end of the 19th century. On Sunday, the statues of Kings Béhanzin, Ghézo and Glèlè will stand proudly in front of the first curious people, on the occasion of the exhibition “Art of Benin yesterday and today: from restitution to revelation”, organized at the Palace of the Marina, in Cotonou. Until May 22, “Beninese men and women of all generations are invited to come and discover themdeclared the Head of State, Patrice Talon. They are unique cultural works that tell our story, our identity, our soul”.
Temperature and humidity variations
Thrones, statues, carved doors, reliquaries… These treasures were returned on November 10 in the West African country of 12 million inhabitants, after long years of negotiations. The request for restitution by Porto-Novo, in 2016, had initially resulted in a negative response from Paris, in the name of the principle of inalienability of national collections. It took a year for French President Emmanuel Macron to put the thorny issue of refunds back on the table during his speech at the University of Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso. Then the vote of an exceptional law, in December 2020, after heated debates in the Senate, to allow the return of these 26 objects symbolizing royalty.
Since their return to their country of origin, more than three months ago, the works have been sleeping in a room in the presidential palace, while they acclimatize to the new climatic conditions. No piece had been presented to the public so far, including during the ceremony formalizing the restitution, in Cotonou. In front of the Beninese Head of State and his hundreds of guests, the wooden box containing King Ghézo had remained closed for obvious conservation reasons. Variations in temperature and humidity (Benin sometimes displays 35°C and more than 90% humidity) can have corrosive consequences on the works, in particular those made of wood. Two Benin curators were trained for several months at the Parisian Quai-Branly museum, where the 26 objects were stored, in order to optimize conservation. “These works will be treated as well here as in Paris”had assured, at the time, the Beninese Minister of Culture, Jean-Michel Abimbola.
Spotlight
These first works returned by France to Benin will therefore be presented for three months and free of charge to Beninese and visitors. In addition to the presentation of this classic art, the exhibition will shine the spotlight on the contemporary artistic scene in Benin and its diaspora, bringing together 34 artists (Fadaïro, Aïsso, Quenum, Tchiff, Hazoumè, Dossou, Donoumassou…) and 106 works, in through a museum route of 2,300 m², in two reception rooms of the presidential palace. Architects, scenographers, graphic designers, photographers… More than 90 people took part in setting up the exhibition. “It is a diachronic approach which questions three centuries of the history of art in Benin.explains Coline Toumson, in charge of art and culture for the Head of State. Everything is perfectly ready to welcome the public.”
The 26 objects will then be temporarily exhibited in the House of the Governor of Ouidah, a former slave port that has become a city of repentance, 40 kilometers from Cotonou. They should join, in three years, the future museum of the Epic of the Amazons and the kings of Danhomè, in Abomey, from where they had been taken away as war booty in 1892 by the troops of French colonel Alfred Dodds. For President Patrice Talon, “The 26 recovered royal treasures are just the very first episode of a soap opera that promises more sequences.”