The 26 objects returned by France this fall will be exhibited from February 20 to May 22 at the presidential palace of the Marina, in Cotonou, before being presented at the Ouidah History Museum. A hundred works by contemporary Beninese artists will be visible alongside them.
From “royal scepters, carved palace gates, a series of figurative statues and the thrones of two kings” : such are, listed by the specialized site Artnet, some of the 26 objects from the treasure of Abomey that will be able to discover, from this Sunday, February 20, visitors to the Marina Palace, in Cotonou – the official residence of the Presidents of the Republic of Benin.
The symbol is strong for the current incumbent, Patrice Talon, re-elected for a second term in April 2021, after a ballot under tension. In 2016, the leader had officially asked France to return to his country the objects resulting from the sacking of the palaces of the former kingdom of Abomey during the French colonial expedition of 1892.
Acted this fall by the President of Benin and by his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron during a ceremony at the Elysée Palace, their return to Beninese soil was broadcast live on national television on November 10.
From Sunday – and until next May 22 – Cotonois will therefore be able to come and admire some of these treasures dating from the end of the 18th and the beginning of the 19th centuries, at the height of the kingdom which had authority over the south of present-day Benin. “In addition to the 26 works of art returned, around a hundred contemporary works by around thirty Beninese artists, including the famous Dominique Zinkpè, will be exhibited to the public”specifies the Beninese daily The nation.
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Delphine Veaudor