(Agence Ecofin) – The sale on Saturday March 25 of a Ngil mask of the Fang ethnic group at auction in Montpellier sparked protests from a small Gabonese community. Protests which once more raise the issue of the possession and marketing of precious African cultural objects by the former colonial powers.
During auctions held yesterday Saturday at the Montpellier auction house, an old Fang mask was sold for the sum of €4.2 million (€5.25 million with costs) to an unidentified buyer. Extremely rare (only 10 copies in the world according to experts), the relic dating from the end of the 19th century belonged to the Ngil secret society, and was used for vigilante rituals.
It was acquired around 1918 and under unknown circumstances by Governor René-Victor Edward Maurice Fournier officiating in Dakar. The colonial official brought her back to France in the 1920s, or more than a century later, she was found in the attic of his home by his family. Initially estimated at a maximum of €400,000, it therefore greatly exceeded the forecasts for a sale which was nevertheless not to the taste of the Gabonese present in the room.
4-? Action of the Gabonese Diaspora resistant to #France We have just lodged a complaint for concealment@France3tv
How do we manage to sell non-French works in France in 2022? ?? Mask #Gabon #Fang @Survival @Asso_Sherpa @RFI @Observers @france24 @ajplusfrancais pic.twitter.com/KXtmCmupep– John LIBRE ??????? (@ Thing76) March 26, 2022
The latter protested once morest the commercialization of an important object of the cultural heritage of their country, acquired according to them in an unfair way. A problem common to many African countries and elsewhere victims of colonization. Some former colonial powers such as France and Belgium have granted some restitutions, such as recently that of the royal treasures of the former kingdom of Dahomey, now the Republic of Benin.
But globally, many precious cultural objects looted during this period are still in European and American museums. Requests are increasing on the African side to recover them. On the sidelines of the International Book Fair, which began on Thursday March 24 in Algiers, a forum on the restitution of African works of art recommended a shared approach by the countries concerned.
When Benin takes back its cultural goods, a Fang mask from Gabon, stolen during colonization, is sold without qualms. pic.twitter.com/bz9yIFj2KY
— Dworaczek-Bendome (@DworaczekBendom) March 26, 2022
He also raised the need to provide the said countries with the necessary infrastructure and skills for the conservation and enhancement of these pieces of inestimable historical and financial value.
Feriol Bewa
