France to return "talking drum" to Ivory Coast

▲ The piece, confiscated from the Ebrié ethnic group in 1916, was sent to France in 1929, exhibited at the Trocadéro Museum, and then at the Quai Branly Ethnological Museum in Paris. It was restored in 2022. Photo taken from the website of the Ivorian Ministry of Culture and Francophonie.

AFP

La Jornada Newspaper, Wednesday, July 9, 2025, p. 4

Paris. The French Parliament on Monday authorized the return to Ivory Coast of the Djidji Ayôkwé talking drum , a sacred instrument stolen by colonial France more than a century ago.

French President Emmanuel Macron pledged in 2021 to return it to this former French colony, two years after Abidjan's official request.

Measuring 3 meters in length and weighing 430 kilograms, this drum was used to transmit ritual messages and warn villagers during forced recruitment or military enlistment operations, among other things.

Confiscated from the Ebrié people in 1916, it was sent to France in 1929, displayed at the Trocadéro Museum, and then at the Ethnological Museum on the Quai Branly in Paris. It was restored in 2022.

The drum's return will contribute to the reparation of an extortion committed during the colonial era, a testament to our awakening of conscience , said Congressman Bertrand Sorre.

The National Assembly (lower house) unanimously approved on Monday the declassification of this French cultural asset, as the Senate did in April.

In a statement, the Ivorian Ministry of Culture welcomed the upcoming return of Djidji Ayôkwé , which is part of a broader vision of cultural reappropriation .

Although Abidjan had hoped for its return by Independence Day on August 7, it could be delayed until after the completion of work on the Museum of Civilizations, Silvie Memel Kassi, an expert in charge of the return of cultural property at the Ivorian Ministry of Culture, told AFP.

Only 27 works have been officially returned to African countries since a law passed in December 2020: the 26 Treasures of Abomey to Benin and the Sabre of El Hadj Umar to Senegal.

The deputies urged the government to adopt a framework law that Macron promised to expedite the restitution of objects looted during colonial times.

In 2023, France adopted two similar laws: one to restore property stolen from Jewish families between 1933 and 1945, and another to regulate the return of human remains from public collections.

Sputnik

La Jornada Newspaper, Wednesday, July 9, 2025, p. 4

Geneva. The Swiss delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of La Francophonie presented a resolution urging other French-speaking countries to contribute to the restitution of cultural property stolen during colonization, according to a statement on the Swiss Parliament's website.

From July 9 to 13, Paris will host the 50th Parliamentary Assembly of La Francophonie, bringing together representatives from 91 parliaments to discuss democracy, human rights, and cultural diversity.

In presenting the resolution, the Swiss delegation wished to raise awareness among its French-speaking counterparts about the need to adopt measures to facilitate the restitution of cultural property stolen during the period of colonial rule , the document states.

Switzerland intends to propose to the states and governments of the French-speaking world that they adapt the principles of the Washington Conference—originally applicable to works of art confiscated by the Nazis—to the case of cultural property stolen during colonization.

The 1998 Washington Conference, organized by the U.S. Department of State and the Holocaust Memorial Museum, was dedicated to cultural objects stolen by the Nazi regime and was attended by 44 countries. The outcome was the establishment of 11 principles for the restitution of works of art confiscated from Jews.

▲ Song to the Land and to Those Who Work and Liberate It (Song to the Liberated Land) , a work by Diego Rivera at the Autonomous University of Chapingo, was affected by structural movements caused by earthquakes and eventual settlements of the building where it is located. Photo courtesy of Inbal

From the editorial staff

La Jornada Newspaper, Wednesday, July 9, 2025, p. 5

From November 13, 2024 to June 27, restoration work was carried out on Diego Rivera's mural work Song to the Land and to Those Who Work It and Liberate It (Song to the Liberated Land) , located in the Riveriana Chapel of the Autonomous University of Chapingo.

The completion of the intervention, carried out by technical staff from the Mural Painting Workshop of the National Center for the Conservation and Registration of Movable Artistic Heritage (Cencropam), which consisted of stabilizing the layers of fresco painting that were affected by structural movements caused by earthquakes and eventual settlements of the building, was announced yesterday by the federal Ministry of Culture and the National Institute of Fine Arts and Literature (Inbal).

The work on Rivera's project consisted of a general mechanical cleaning, as well as chemical cleaning in specific areas and color restoration. Meanwhile, at the property where he resides, located at kilometer 38.5 of the Mexico-Texcoco Highway in Chapingo, State of Mexico, cracks in the air chambers were consolidated and stabilized through injection and repaired with binder materials.

This intervention was carried out thanks to a collaboration agreement between the Autonomous University of Chapingo and the National Institute of Biological Sciences (INBAL), through Cencropam (Cencropam), to restore the collection of Diego Rivera murals in the university's Riveriana Chapel.

The mural covers 370.23 square meters and was created between 1925 and 1927 as part of a series of frescoes in which the artist depicted the Mexican agrarian struggle and allegories that exalt the regenerative power of nature, the fertility of the soil, and the dignity of peasants.