France returns Ivory Coast’s looted sacred drum

A sacred drum looted by French forces during its colonial rule in Ivory Coast has been returned to the country, more than a century after it was taken, reports BBC News. ‎It was seized by colonial authorities in 1916 before being taken to France in 1929, where it was put on display at the Trocadéro Museum and later at the Quai Branly Museum in Paris. The Djidji Ayôkwé (Panther Lion), as the talking drum is called, was welcomed home by members of the Ebrié community, its original owners. It is more than three metres long, weighs about 430kg and is carved from iroko wood. The return is part of a wider French effort to repatriate African cultural artefacts, a process that began in 2017. ‎’This is a historic day with lot of emotions,’ said Ivory Coast's Culture Minister Françoise Remarck. ‘We are living through a moment of justice and remembrance that finally marks the return of the Djidji Ayôkwé to its land of origin.’ Francis Tagro, director of the Museum of Civilisations in Abidjan, said the drum would be exhibited ‘in a place of honour in the heart of the national museum’. ‎‎A central piece of Ebrié heritage, the talking drum was traditionally used to warn of danger, mobilise people for war, and summon villages to ceremonies. ‎‎‎As restitution requests from former colonies increase, France's Senate adopted a framework law on 29 January aimed at making it easier to remove colonial-era artefacts from French national collections. The Bill is expected to be discussed shortly by the National Assembly.

Full BBC News report