Repatriates researcher Adéwolé Faladé was interviewed about the definitions, challenges, history and importance of repatriation processes, laws, claims and policies by Britannica:
https://www.britannica.com/video/what-is-repatriation-video/-319565
Read her whole interview here:
What is repatriation?
Repatriation is the process of returning plundered cultural goods to their country of origin or to the heirs of the former owners. This implies that the cultural properties were acquired under controversial circumstances such as colonial wars for example. The cultural goods vary from domestic objects, paintings, sculptures. Human remains were also taken for anthropological reasons and some have also been returned.
Why do people request repatriation of their culture’s objects/artifacts/art?
Multiple reasons underlie repatriation claims. Some of them involve:
- The owners or their heirs wish to have their stolen belongings back as the artifacts are part of their heritage.
- In certain cases, the plundered items have remained important for the practice of ceremonies and the continuity of the cultural life of socio-cultural groups. The sacred aspect of the objects cannot be replaced or transferred to the new objects.
- In other cases, many generations have been cut off from that linking element to their past, the history of their forebearers and the scripting of their identity. They need the repatriation of their cultural goods, of that missing link to reconnect with their identity and ground themselves.
Why is repatriation important?
- Repatriation is key because it is challenging for a nation or a socio-cultural group to develop itself without its endogenous knowledge, and with a disruption of the transmission of skills, know-how that would have been possible otherwise.
- Besides, repatriation gives a voice back to those who have been muted for such a long time, and are now being able to re-write their own stories and not serve a discriminatory discourse anymore.
What are some of the challenges of requesting repatriation?
Some of the challenges involve:
- provenance research: how to select the objects to be repatriated (what archives to trust?) Who to repatriate them to (a socio-cultural group can be spread out over several countries; some kingdoms do not exist anymore)?
- new hosting institutions/museums have to fit so called international (European) standards. It is a requirement that must be guaranteed sometimes before the giver agrees to give back.
- Inalienability: the legal system that prevents museums/a nation to depart from their national collections (British museums, France until December 2020)
What happens after repatriation? How can repatriation affect the group or nation that has regained ownership of its artifacts?
There are several layers. Repatriation mainly involves the control of the government and how it wishes to use or rather instrumentalize that return. Also, the provenance of the items matters because it influences their reception by the different groups of the population. Re-integrating the artifacts and their immateriality, the invisible world that surrounds them, can put a nation on the international map, attract and trigger cultural, economic and political exchanges, however it can also stir local unsettled conflicts, put one socio cultural group on the forefront over others, open up past wounds…
What are some of the challenges here?
- What new roles to bestow to the repatriated artefacts? Meaning, when they left, they held distinctive functions, can they fulfill their prior functions again?
- When objects belong to one socio cultural group, how to make sure that the others feel related to them since they have come back into a diverse nation?
Who is involved?
- The main entity involved is the government/ministry of culture as the agreement is made between two states. It holds the principal role.
- Local communities from which the items originated could also be involved, depending on the cases.
- Repatriation has an important impact also on the artistic world. In the case of Benin, it has shed light on Beninese contemporary art. Artists and their works have become ambassadors of Beninese art, culture and sacredness.
Through your work at Repatriates, you’ve researched objects repatriated to Benin from France after the initiative was supported by French president Macron. Can you describe that process and what happened in Benin after the objects were repatriated?
Since the 1960s, former West African French colonies have fought for the return of their artefacts stolen during colonial wars. In 2016, Beninese president Patrice Talon, officially asked France for the repatriation of the objects plundered from the kingdom of Danhomey between 1892-94 by French soldiers. This restitution claim was dismissed. On November 28th, 2017, in Ouagadougou, during an official visit to Burkina-Faso, French President Emmanuel Macron committed to actively work toward the temporary or final return of African heritage to the African continent.
To that end, President Macron commissioned French art historian Benedicte Savoy and Senegalese writer and economist, Felwine Sarr, to co-write a report entitled The Restitution of African Cultural Heritage. Toward a New Relational Ethics[1] in 2018. The report touched on several issues, among which, the disputable provenance of African artworks, the restitution process, and the legal frameworks required for the repatriation of the items. Following the release of the report, twenty-seven objects in total were repatriated by France. One saber was repatriated to Senegal in December 2020, whereas twenty-six artefacts returned to the Republic of Benin on November 10th, 2021. Besides, one talking drum confiscated by France in 1916 is in the process of being restituted to Ivory Coast.
Once they arrived in the Rep of Benin, they were nationally celebrated by the government, the different kingdoms and civil society entities as well. It has been decided that these “treasures” are now symbols of national unity and are part of Beninese national heritage. A law was passed late 2021 to integrate them in the national heritage. Beside that role, a major emphasis was put on the aesthetics of the pieces as they are presented as works of art. They were exhibited alongside with Beninese contemporary art for over 03 months, then that exhibition became a traveling exhibition but without the repatriated pieces. It’s been touring in Africa, the French Caribbeans and now Europe.
Have any repatriation processes been successful?
It is difficult to talk in terms of “success” or “failure”. Repatriation encompasses numerous variables, many aspects have to be taken into consideration, and we need time to guage the real impacts of repatriation on the country that returns and the one that receives. It is an ongoing process that will take several decades. When one deals with violent and painful histories and stories which occurred in specific contexts, so remote in time, it is challenging to say just after a few years whether or not it’s successful or complete.
Why is it important to preserve culture?
it is important to preserve a people’s integrity and identity and be able to pass it on from one generation to the other so they can also build on it.
How does repatriation fit into cultural preservation?
It allows a socio -cultural group to reconnect with their past, to fill in gaps and reassemble bits and pieces of their history. As objects come back, missing parts of the culture also come back with them.
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[1] Sarr, F. Savoy, B. The Restitution of African Cultural Heritage. Toward a New Relational Ethics. France. Nov 2018