Restitution Day 2025: Remembrance And Reckoning
‘A people who free themselves from foreign domination will be free culturally only if, without complexes and without underestimating the importance of positive accretions from the oppressor and other cultures, they return to the upward paths of their own culture, which is nourished by the living reality of its environment, and which negates both harmful influences and any kind of subjection to foreign cultures. Thus, it may be seen that if imperialist domination has the vital need to practice cultural oppression, national liberation is necessarily an act of culture.’
Amilcar Cabral (1)
Our readers will recall that 'On every Restitution Day, 10 November, we shall take stock of what has been done since the last celebration to bring us nearer to achieving reparative justice for the African peoples who have been deprived of their artefacts and other resources for more than hundred years. We shall also examine whether Western States have done anything about returning the human remains of our forebearers kept in their institutions. We want to bury our forbearers so we can retain contact between the dead and the living intact. For many of us, the dead are not yet gone.' (2)
Undoubtedly, one of the most essential restitution events in the last few months has been the restitution of the Djidji Ayôkwé, the talking drum that the French seized from Côte d'Ivoire in 1916 as punishment for resisting forced labour and was only returned in July 2025. (3) Equally significant was the attempt by the French government to secure a new general law, loi-cadre, which would have made restitution easier by not requiring specific legislation for every object to be returned, by creating a general exemption to the rule of inalienability of State property. (4) The government that presented the relevant bill fell victim to a vote of non-confidence demanded by the Prime Minister on 8 September 2025. (5)
We were reminded of the cruel and brutal nature of colonialism by the return of France in 2025 to Madagascar, three heads of resistance fighters, including the head of King Toera of the Sakalava nation. French troops beheaded the King and others in 1897 for resistance to French imperialist rule. They took the skulls as trophies to the French museum, Musée de l'Homme, in Paris. (6) The solemn and dignified ceremonies that welcomed the return of the ancestral remains once more underscored the importance many African peoples attach to the correct and traditional process for burying our dead. An aspect of the life of African peoples that colonialists and neo-colonialists do not respect. There are still thousands of African remains in France, Great Britain, Germany, and other imperialist countries. (7)
It is in this area of restitution of human remains and looted artefacts that we clearly see the disdain and disrespect of Western States for the African peoples. They keep our artefacts, which they do not need, because these looted objects are mostly in depots and basements that are hardly visited by museum officials, some of the objects being in the original packages used to send them to Europe. The Western public does not know about the thousands of looted African artefacts in Western museums. (8) For whom then are they keeping these looted objects? The Dutch government has returned since the last Restitution Day 119 Benin artefacts to Nigeria, which is encouraging, but what about other Nigerian and African artefacts in Dutch museums? (9) They act as if Benin art were all the colonialists stole from Africa.
Among the interesting publications of the period under review was the report of the Open Restitution Africa entitled Demands-Based Inventory Models-Rethinking Inventories: community-Led Pathways to Meaningful Restitution. We have seen helpful and informative publications and webinars by this group that have contributed to our understanding of African restitution. Some of the statements of this recent report, however, surprised me. (10)
We comment briefly on the key findings of the report: Key Findings 1.
1.Inventories don't guarantee returns. Our research found no direct link between publishing inventories and the actual return of heritage items. Instead, most successful restitution efforts are driven by communities who discover their belongings through chance encounters or grassroots mobilisation.
2. The costs are enormous. Digital Benin cost €3.9 million to document just 5,246 items from a single kingdom. The Atlas of Absence identified over 40,000 Cameroonian items in German museums alone—a scale that makes comprehensive inventories financially unrealistic for most African countries.
3. Colonial distortions persist. Museum records created during colonial rule use labels like "fetish" or "amulet" that obscure true meaning, while most Western institutions still tightly control access to their collections.
A declaration that inventories don't guarantee returns immediately raises the question of whether anybody, or the researchers, ever expected inventories, whether by Western institutions or African authorities, to result directly in returns. There is no link between a list of objects in Western museums and their willingness or unwillingness to restitute. The statement Instead, most successful restitution efforts are driven by communities who discover their belongings through chance (my emphasis) encounters or grassroots mobilisation, cannot be allowed to stand without examination. The most successful restitution has been the return of the Benin artefacts to Nigeria/Oba of Benin. Neither the Nigerian government nor the Oba of Benin can be described as a community. But what, at all, is a community? Can the Edo Nation or the Asante Nation, which resisted colonial aggression, be described as 'community,' a word that seems convenient but is seldom defined.
The Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary of Current English (Eighth Edition, 2010) defines community as' all the people who live in a particular area, country, etc, when talked about as a group'. Those African nations that resisted imperialism, such as the Asante, Edo, and others, as a result had their cultural objects seized by colonialist armies and transported to Europe, cannot be considered as communities. The bonds between those people go beyond territorial boundaries, as shown by the African diaspora's active participation in restitution matters.
Do the report's authors really want us to make our demands for restitution through chance encounters rather than systematic search through the catalogues of Western museums? Should we not start from what the museums hold rather than what the 'communities' have lost? And are there people from the 'communities' who know what has been lost and where the looted objects have been placed in the last hundred years?
That Digital Benin involved enormous financial costs cannot be an argument against the illegal Western holders of African artefacts preparing catalogues of their holdings, something they should have done centuries ago. The Atlas of Absence was on a large scale and was expensive, but this is presumably what the Germans who designed and paid for the research desired. Not all catalogues need to be on that scale.
Researchers should take a stand on digitisation. Most people in Africa are far from getting the necessary conditions for digitisation. Many of our people lack an electricity supply. We should also note the basic criticism against digitisation at this stage. So far, nobody has answered my question about how to dance with a digitised ceremonial sword. And did I not once read about digitised restitution?
Let Western museums and institutions return what looted African artefacts are now known to be in their exhibitions and depots. We shall discuss the rest and examine their origins and the illegitimacy or legitimacy of acquisition by Western institutions. Colonial distortions must not deter a well-informed researcher from consulting and using colonial records. Misleading and degrading terminology, such as 'fetish', will not prevent scholars from getting the real nature of objects in colonial records. The crucial point is that'… most Western institutions still tightly control access to their collections.' This is what we must fight against. The colonial masters kept all the archives they had made during their imperialist hegemony. (11)
We agree that "Restitution is not only about return—it's about repair. Western institutions must do more than open databases—they must share the burden of restitution and help rebuild what was broken". Those who stole our artefacts and sent them to Europe cannot now complain about the costs of returning some of these artefacts and paying for the wanton destruction of colonial oppression and negligence.
Les Arts Africains by Yaëlle Brio and Constantin Petridis is an undoubtedly useful French publication. The beautifully illustrated heavy book, over 584 pages, contains many photos of our looted cultural objects in the West and essays by well-known specialists on African art. The book's 215 euros price is clearly prohibitive for most readers. (12) The book does not deal with the critical issue of restitution, even though many of its contributors have made significant contributions to the debate on restitution. The analysis of acquisition, provenance research, and other issues will help us understand and assess the current debate on restitution.
Among the interesting books we have seen in the period is Beyond restitution, by Kristin Hauser and Elke Selter. (13) According to the authors,
' This book is not designed to comprehensively cover all aspects of the topic at hand. Instead, it aims to fill a knowledge gap by addressing the following question: how have certain individuals and institutions successfully facilitated the return of cultural objects, and what has become of these objects after their return? While this exploration was driven by an aspiration for a deeper understanding of the meaning of these past returns for countries and communities of origin, it was also fuelled by a simultaneous interest in shedding some light on the impact of those returns on the European institutions involved. As we found out, not all returns were equally meaningful or impactful. In the process of addressing our research queries, this book evolved into something more: an ode to all the dedicated individuals we interviewed, on both sides of these narratives. These people have navigated considerable challenges and made courageous decisions to bring about these returns
They have recognised that conservation and legal arguments should not always be seen as unsurmountable obstacles and that ethical considerations may provide a more equitable ground for a satisfactory resolution to an often-difficult situation. Thus, while this book delves into the intricacies of return processes and relevant laws and policies, it equally celebrates the remarkable individuals without whom none of the returns included herein would have been possible.'
Kirsten Hauser and Elke Selter have undoubtedly produced a valuable and helpful book from which one learns much about many restitution problems. We can subscribe to many of their general statements. Nevertheless, we maintain our basic position that questions of what happens to artefacts after restitution, at this stage, are mainly posed by Westerners. It is a question often posed by Western States and museums that are not willing to return looted African artefacts. They tirelessly repeat their doubts about the capacity of Africans to look after their looted artefacts if they are returned. We assert that, in view of the small number of African artefacts that have been returned and the arrogance and unwillingness of the West, Africans must concentrate on securing a substantial portion of the looted artefacts. Without a firm grip on our artefacts and knowledge about what made us what we are, our past and present, our future can only drift. Amadou M'Bow rightly declared in A plea for the restitution of an irreplaceable cultural heritage to those who created it, that:
'The peoples who were victims of this plunder, sometimes for hundred years, have not only been despoiled of irreplaceable masterpieces but also robbed of a memory which would doubtless have helped them to greater self-knowledge and would certainly have enabled others to understand them better.'
In any case, we do not owe Westerners any moral or legal duty to prove that when they return our looted artefacts, we can preserve them. The thief cannot set conditions for returning stolen goods to the owners. Western museums are not in a hurry to return African artefacts they stole during the colonial days. They make symbolic restitution under intense pressure but are not genuinely convinced of the necessity to return a substantial number of Africa's treasures that they carted to the West.
In his request to Benedicte Savoy and Felwine Sarr to prepare and submit a report on concrete proposals on restitution of African artefacts to the African States, President Macron stated ‘j’ai souhaité que cette action soit conduite dans le cadre d’une réflextion approfondie sur nos collections nationales.’(14) Since the report in 2018, most attention has been concentrated on the large national museums, Musée du Quai Brandy-Jacques-Chirac, British Museum, and Ethnology Museum/Humboldt Forum, Berlin. This is right since state institutions have most stolen artefacts, and governments have more authority concerning objects in national museums. In most cases, private objects can be recovered only through civil procedure, which would be expensive for most African States. But given that decades of concentration on public museums and institutions for restitution have not yielded much, is it not time to turn attention to private ownership of looted African artefacts that are being auctioned every day in Western States?
Are the moral objections to holding looted artefacts of other peoples not applicable to private owners and private institutions? Some private holders with a good conscience could be persuaded to return looted African artefacts. Since the generous act of Dr Mark Walker in returning looted Benin artefacts to Benin in 2014, there has not been a similar action. (15) Should African States not address themselves to private holders in the Western world? Incidentally, many of the remarkable works of African art are in private collections, which most Africans do not see unless they get a visa to visit the Western world. They could also see these works if they get hold of some expensive books and catalogues, which often do not reveal the owners' names and the artefacts' location.
An encouraging news item in 2025 has been the unsurprising results of the recent opinion polls on the question of the Parthenon Marbles. (16) According to recent opinion polls held in Britain, 56 per cent responded that they would prefer to see the Parthenon Marbles reunited in Athens. 'The survey also found 30% of respondents – including a quarter of Reform supporters – believed British museums should return all historically looted or contested artefacts. Just 11% said they should keep everything.
Opinion polls in recent years have always shown that most of the British population is in favour of returning the Parthenon Marbles to Athens. Still, such polls do not seem to affect the British Museum and the government. They continue in their adamant and wrongful policy, in opposition to world opinion and against the wishes of their people, whom they are supposed to represent.
But will African governments realise that in matters of restitution, they may have allies in the British people, as opposed to the British Museum and the Government? Would they work on this successful avenue, or will they continue to seek advice from the British Museum even in such matters?
When the director of the British Museum, Nicolas Cullinan, made his provocative and defiant statement in May 2025 that the British Museum would not restitute the Benin artefacts, no African country raised objections. (17)
This may have led him to conclude that there were no objections to his views and that the loaning of artefacts to Asante has been accepted. He thus recently declared that he was satisfied with the new relationship with Kumase. The British Museum director does not say that the Asante are unhappy with the fake loan they imposed on them. In February 2024, the Asantehene gave a lecture at the British Museum, which was opened by Nicolas Cullinan and chaired by Kwame Appiah. (18) The Asantehene declared that he had accepted the loan arrangement in the belief that it would afford opportunities for further discussions for eventual restitution; he offered to aid in changing the British Museum Act 1963, which was alleged to be an obstacle to restitution. After Cullinan's declaration that he would not even try to get the law changed because it would be wrong, it becomes clear that Asante and the British Museum hold opposite views.
The British Museum has aligned its position with the new radical imperialists now gaining support in Great Britain; they ignore the United Nations/UNESCO and African independence. The ideological leaders of this group oppose the restitution of Benin artefacts to Benin because Benin participated in the Atlantic slave trade. They ignore entirely the roles of Britain, France, Germany, the Netherlands, and Portugal in this wicked trade.
The British Museum held a charity ball on 18 October 2025 to collect funds to further its international partnerships:
Internationally, we are following the same approach of deep partnerships. There have been some extraordinary successes- but this is something I am determined to do more of in order to ensure we are living up to our ambition to make the British Museum collection the most accessible and most shared in the world. We are proud of our pioneering partnerships, from the Kumasi Palace in Ghana to the History Museum of Armenia, and the historic cultural exchange next year of the Bayeux Tapestry, which mean that some of our greatest treasures from Sutton Hoo will be seen by brand-new audiences in museums in Normandy.' (19)
The Pink Ball was organised in a hall where the Parthenon Marbles are exhibited, and participants were seated, drinking and eating before the precious ancient artefacts, which have been disputed between Britain and Greece for decades. As expected, the Greek Culture Ministry condemned the use of the Parthenon Marbles as décor for the Pink Ball:
"The Ministry of Culture has repeatedly and consistently condemned dinners, receptions, and fashion shows organised in museum spaces where monuments and works of art are exhibited. Such actions are offensive to cultural goods and endanger the exhibits themselves." (20)
Irrespective of the position one takes on the long-running dispute between Britain and Greece over the Parthenon Marbles, it seems strange that the British Museum, aware of the sensitivity of the Greeks, would deliberately decide to hold a ball in the midst of the precious ancient Greek treasures. Lack of sensitivity and respect for other nations is the first explanation that comes to mind. The mighty museum in Bloomsbury does not seem to worry about the reputation that it is creating for itself. Arrogance and disrespectful behaviour towards ancient and revered artefacts of others will not help to solve cultural disputes. Moreover, Greece had raised objections in 2024 to using the Parthenon Marbles as décor for fashion shows. (21)
The British Museum was organising the notorious Pink Ball on the same day, and the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Afrikan Reparations held its UK event. Reparations Conference. (22)
We note that Nigeria and Germany have still not published the annexes to their agreement of July 2022, which would enable us to know which of the many Benin artefacts still in Germany are on loan and those that are in Germany because the Nigerians are not yet ready to house them. Thus, it is impossible to tell whether many Benin treasures have been returned as the frequent reports on Benin seem to indicate. Are there secret agreements and understandings between Germans and Nigerians that create an impression that does not reflect reality? Did Germany easily agree to transfer legal rights in 1130 Benin artefacts, knowing that only a few of these, in fact, only twenty-two, would be physically moved to Nigeria, whilst the rest remained in Germany? Meanwhile, while we wait for the official publication of the annexes to the Nigerian German agreement, we read from recent publications that some Benin objects are'' deposits from the National Commission of Museums and Monuments, Nigeria.' What does deposit here mean? What are the terms of the deposit? We observe in passing that the looted Nok sculptures that France bought, knowing they were illegally exported from Nigeria to Belgium, where they were auctioned, were to remain in France as loans and are described in the Pavillon de Sessions, Paris, as depôts, deposits from Nigeria.
Many have expressed the view that there is a lack of transparency in the restitution of the Benin artefacts by Germany. In an article entitled' Beyond the Neo-Imperial Politicizing of Object Repatriation: Restitution and the Question of Decolonisation, by Clement Akpang, we read as follows:
‘The German approach involves symbolically transferring objects' legal ownership with an arrangement to retain them as permanent loans. In 2022, the Foundation of Prussian Cultural Heritage (SPK) and Nigeria's National Commission for Museums and Monuments (NCMM) signed one such agreement to transfer ownership of 512 Benin bronzes. Abba Isa Tijani, the commission's director, celebrated the deal as representing a future of museum collaboration even though it was apparent that the pact was political dramatology.’ (23)
It is not easy to challenge the view that much of the Nigerian German transfer of the Benin bronzes was dramatisation, made more for the eyes and ears of the public than a genuine restitution of artefacts to those who made them and desire to continue their cultural traditions. Museums that agreed to the transfer of legal ownership to Nigeria retained, at the same time, some objects on loan. There is no great desire or hurry to inform the Nigerian or German public of detailed and necessary information about where exactly specific Benin pieces are being held.
A remarkable fact of the period since last Restitution Day is the growing interest in restitution issues, exemplified by the increasing number of webinars, seminars, and conferences on restitution matters. (24) We are far from the period when the mere mention of restitution sounded to some as a declaration of war on Western museums. Demands for the return of looted artefacts were not to be tolerated by decent scholars who kept their distance from 'radical 'scholars, mostly seen as opponents of the West.
A notable event this year was the well-received speech of the President of Ghana at the 80th General Assembly of the United Nations. President Mahama declared, alia,
We must demand reparations for the enslavement of our people and the colonisation of our land that resulted in the theft of natural resources, as well as the looting of artefacts and other items of cultural heritage that have yet to be returned in total. We recognise the value of our land and the value of our lives. As did our coloniser, as well as the governments that happily paid reparations to former slave owners as compensation for the loss of their "property"—that "property" for which compensation was paid referred to enslaved people who had been freed. (25) President Mahama and other African leaders will have to pay attention to Western institutions that are not reacting to our demands for restitution.
Many institutions, such as the Wallace Collection, have not adopted any clear policy on the restitution of looted African artefacts in their collections. They hope that with attention concentrated on large institutions such as the British Museum, they may escape the scrutiny of the demanders of restitution and their supporters. These institutions are aware of the debate on restitution of looted African artefacts:' In the last few decades, there have been calls by African governments and kings, including the current Asantehene, for the return of African artworks looted and shipped to the United Kingdom and other parts of Europe during the 19th century' Wallace Collection only declares that: The issues around ownership and care for these objects are complex. The narratives and meanings ascribed to these objects by their original communities may be changed in a museum context or setting. Many of these objects are displaced and dispossessed, divorced now from their power and context as symbolic representations, and distanced from the religious transactions that existed between them and the people who revered them as spiritual and powerful elements.' (26)
Readers will immediately recognise in this Wallace Collection statement echoes of the notorious declaration on the Importance and Value of Universal Museums that tried to justify the holding/ of other people looted objects by the world's major museums. (27) The Wallace Collection is therefore not inclined, or willing to restitute the looted Asante treasures. Does the Wallace Collection hope it would not have to decide soon whether to return looted objects? Particularly, when the institution admits it is holding the Asante golden head, that the collection once described as
'One of the largest historic gold objects from Africa outside Egypt, this trophy head was made in the West African state of Asante, in the present-day Ghana. The Asante people controlled extensive gold resources and were renowned for the items they made from this precious metal. This head is among the most important works of Asante art. It probably depicts a defeated enemy from a different ethnic group.' (28)
A recent version of the Wallace document describes the same trophy head as' This head is among the most important and famous works of Asante art.' The change in the description tends to reduce the significance of the trophy head and its place in Asante art history. It thereby seeks to minimise the moral opprobrium in withholding from a people its significant artwork, which will not avert restitution. (29)
President Mahama and other African leaders should impress upon Western States and museums that the call for restitution is not a request for charity or a plea for benevolence but a demand for reparative justice, which has been delayed during the prolonged period of massive colonial plunder and transfer of wealth to Europe.
At its 2025 Conference, Mondiacult emphasised that the right to culture is a human right.
We reaffirm the recognition of the right to take part in cultural life as a human right, inherent to dignity and identity.
Culture contributes to the full exercise of human rights and fundamental freedoms, peacebuilding, inclusive economic growth, climate resilience, wellbeing and sustainable development. It is a global public good, with intrinsic value, whose transformative power must be fully mobilised to address.' (30)
As our readers know, one of the major arguments that Western museums have presented to explain or justify their refusal or reluctance to return African artefacts, despite our demands for over a century, has been that the artefacts would not be safe and secure if returned to African countries. We have always pointed out that these treasures were saved for hundreds of years until European imperialism, after the notorious Berlin Conference of 1884-85, decided to rob African states of their wealth and resources, including cultural treasures, with wars and violence, and wanton destruction of towns and unaccountable loss of human lives.
Recent years have demonstrated that Western museums are not always safe for keeping precious artefacts. The theft of precious artefacts by a senior official of the British Museum, who was in charge of the section where the artefacts were kept, led to the resignation of the then director of the British Museum, Hartwig Fischer. (31) Ghanaians, Chinese, Nigerians and all who have their artefacts detained in the British Museum raised questions regarding the security of their treasures and demanded their restitution, but without success. (32)
The recent spectacular daylight burglary of precious French Crown jewels from the Louvre Museum in Paris, when the most visited museum in the world was open on Sunday at 9.30 am, has left many wondering whether Western museums are safe for any precious artefacts. The security system at the leading museum failed and facilitated this brazen robbery. A wide-ranging debate involving the President, the National Assembly, the Senate, and the political parties followed in France. France as a nation seemed traumatised. (33) Media worldwide reported on this spectacular theft at the Louvre. Additionally, a museum robbery occurred in a French province a day after this theft. Thieves stole two thousand gold and silver coins worth about $100,000 from Maison des Lumières Denis Diderot, Langres. (34)
The French were so traumatised by the Louvre theft that they decided to put the rest of the precious treasures from the Galerie d’Apollon in the vaults of the Banque de France, where the gold reserves of France are located, 30metres beneath the ground floor of the bank.(35) But are subterranean vaults the answer to the lack of security in museums? What then is the mission of the museum? Simply to protect treasures but not to teach the public by showing them the treasures and indeed the evidence of their past? How many African artefacts, especially gold objects, may be in such impregnable vaults-in Paris, Berlin, and London, about which we are all ignorant?
Fifty-seven directors of leading museums have declared in a statement their support for the embattled director of the Louvre, Laurence des Cars. They point “Our institutions are not immune to the world’s brutality. Today, they are facing increasingly violent acts. What happened to the Louvre is one of the greatest fears of museum professionals. Some of us have already experienced it. These risks weigh on each of our institutions’ They declared that
‘Museums are not strongholds nor are they secret vaults. Their essence while creating the safest environment for art and its audiences lies in their openness and accessibility.’
‘Museums are places of transmission and wonder. They offer all visitors opportunities for contemplation and moments of joy. They allow us to learn from the past, to deepen our understanding of the present and to weave meaningful dialogues with the masterpieces they show. Museums allow us to see the world differently.’ (36)
The signatories of this letter included, Nicholas Cullinan, Director of the British Museum in London, Tristram Hunt, Director of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, Maria Balshaw, Tate, Taco Dibbits, General director of the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, Max Hollein, Director and CEO of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, James Rondeau, Director of the Art Institute of Chicago, Manuel Rabaté, Director, Louvre Abu Dhabi. Most of us can support the sentiments and views of the fifty-seven directors in support of the director of the Louvre. However, should we not wait until there has been a thorough investigation of the causes that led to a singular failure of security in the world’s leading museum? Such failures in museums are usually not attributable to one person or section of the government. Finance Ministry, Culture Ministry, Interior Ministry, and a host of other offices have responsibilities concerning the security of museums.
UNESCO has rightly condemned this brazen theft: ‘Such acts jeopardise the conservation, study and transmission of valuable historical artefacts, whilst fuelling international trafficking with serious consequences’ We should add that if museums in recent years have come under massive public attack and lack of support, this is partly due to the justified perception that major museums are holding artefacts looted in the colonial period . When we look at the list of signatories of the open letter, we realise that some of the signatories are from museums detaining cultural objects of former colonies, we become aware that Western museums use double standards in their assessment of such deplorable events. Their moral standards seem very flexible indeed
The Louvre itself is a citadel of looted artefacts from all over the world. We all remember Napoleon’s brutal invasion of Egypt and the huge amount of Egyptian treasures the French army and scholars brought back to France. Napoleonic confiscations in European countries such as Belgium, Italy, Germany and Netherlands were ordered by the Treaty of Versailles to be returned to those countries, but some are still in the Louvre. The huge amount of cultural artefacts looted by the French during their colonial rule are exemplified by the treasures in the Louvre, in the Pavillon des Sessions, including masterworks such as Gou, the god of war from the Republic of Benin. The crown jewels of France, like the crown jewels of Britain, may well contain materials such as diamonds, sapphires, and pearls that may well have been taken from the colonies. While they remind Europeans of their glory and power, they remind Africans and Asians of unjustified exploitation and painful slavery.
The Grand Egyptian Museum was opened on 1November 2025 with great pomp and show as a great modern museum, surpassing existing museums in its sophistication and modernity, displaying all the splendour of Egypt. No one can now repeat the old cliché that there are no modern and adequate museum facilities in Africa and therefore cannot return looted artefacts to Egypt, Ethiopia or Nigeria. The real question now is when will the Rosetta Stone and Nefertiti return home to Egypt as Zahi Hawass and Egyptian- governments have been asking over decades?
During his visit to the opening of the Grand Egyptian Museum, Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof, promised to return a looted ancient Egyptian statue, said to be representing an important official from the dynasty of Pharoah Thutmose III. Will Belgium, Britain, France, Germany, and the USA follow this example?
Shadenfreude over the Louvre thefts will not bring back African treasures detained in Western museums. We will also not be able to prevent others from making films, cartoons, and video games of this spectacular and brazen robbery. Surreal narratives will not help us to recover our artworks and ancestral remains from the West. African youth should live in the real world and not become captives of virtual reality if they are to contribute to rebuilding our societies that have been devasted by colonial and imperialist aggressions and racist domination.
Those who have stolen precious jewels from the Louvre with disconcerting ease may steal tomorrow from an African or Asian museum with equal# ease.
Western imperialist museums are better prepared for such catastrophes since they are filled with thousands of artefacts, including plundered objects from Africa and Asia. We should not adopt the double standards of the West in such situations.
Hopefully, the traumatic experience of the French through the Louvre heist will encourage France to return the looted African artefacts in the Louvre and the Musée du Quai Branly. The political parties will perhaps support the new legislation that was proposed a few months ago to facilitate restitution but was not even debated in Parliament because the then government fell as a result of a vote of no-confidence.
Emiline Smith, in her brilliant essay on the Louvre daylight robbery,
'The Louvre Heist Was a Colonial Wake-Up Call,' reminds Western museums of their stewardship of African and Asian treasures now under their control:
'Part of that stewardship demands an ethical reckoning: a willingness to ask whether these objects should still be here at all. We need a more pragmatic, realistic approach to museum ownership and collection retention. We cannot and should not hold onto everything in our museum collections, particularly when the original owners are ready and able to take ownership of their own heritage, as exemplified by enslaved Dahomey court artist Akati Ekplékendo's 1858 sculpture of the Vodún deity Gou, which Benin has repeatedly requested back yet is still exhibited in the Louvre's Pavillion des Sessions. France has overall made very limited progress in living up to its own restitution guidelines and repatriation promises since President Emmanuel Macron made his vow to return colonial-looted cultural objects back in 2017. ' (37)
The argument that African museums are not safe for African artefacts can no longer be sustained with any seriousness and honesty. Whilst we must all condemn without reservation the brazen daylight robbery of the French crown jewels from the Louvre, we must at the same time remember that British, Belgian, Dutch, French, German, Portuguese, and Spanish museums detain artefacts and treasures obtained from the colonies under contested and dubious circumstances. Demands for their restitution have not been fulfilled.
‘Peu de temps après cette saignée, les prédateurs revinrent drapés de discours sur la civilisation et les lumières. Mais ils n'en avaient qu'après l'or, l'ivoire, les terres, les minerais, les hommes valides pour leurs guerres, les matières premières pour leurs industries.
Ils souillèrent les terres sacrées, saccagèrent les cultes, interdirent les langues des aieux, vidèrent
la tête des enfants, dépossédèrent les peuples de leurs noms, subjuguèrent par la sophistication de leurs outils, scellèrent les savoirs ancestraux dans le mépris et l'oubli, érigèrent l'inhumain et lui dressèrent des autels.
Le Seigneur était leur berger, ils dévastèrent nos verts pâturages.
Ils baillonnèrent les dieux du panthéon.
Shango se tut et Legba n'ouvrit plus les chemins.
Nos peuples résistèrent, vaillamment, mais finirent par être vaincus. Vulnérables qu'ils étaient. Affaiblis par des querelles intestines, une fraternité et une confiance perdues depuis que la vénalité avait dressé, durant les traites d'humains, le frère contre le frère. La fissure était là, prête à creuser sa propre béance.
La faille s'installa. Elle creusa son sillon dru dans les corps et les esprits.
Le Continent mit des siècles à se remettre de la saignée.’
Felwine Sarr, Traces-Discours aux Nations
Africaines, ’ (38)
NOTES
1. February 20, 1970. originally delivered on February 20, 1970; as part of the Eduardo Mondlane Memorial Lecture Series at Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York. Cabral was assassinated by Portuguese agents on January 20, 1973. https://blackpast.org/global-african-history/1970-amilcar-cabral-national-liberation-and-culture/
K. Opoku, Remembering Amilcar Cabral, Poet, Revolutionary, Politician and Military Strategist. https://www.modernghana.com/news/157700/remembering-amilcar-cabral-poet-revolutionary-politician.html
K. Opoku, Tribute to Amilcar Cabral by Poet Alda Do Espírito Santo
2. K. Opoku, Restitution Day 2024: Remembrance and Reckoning https://www.modernghana.com/news/1355754/restitution-day-2024-remembrance-and-reckoning.html
3. K. Opoku, France returns Djidji Ayôkwé to Côte D’ivoire. Will Britain return the Pokomo Drum to Kenya?
4. K. Opoku, Will new French restitution law lead to release of Gou and Others from
French museums?
https://www.modernghana.com/news/1426027/will-new-french-restitution-law-lead-to-release.html
5. https://www.newsweek.com/france-no-confidence-vote-emmanuel-macron-francois-bayrou-2126522/
CNN, French government collapses after prime minister loses confidence votehttps://edition.cnn.com/2025/09/08/europe/french-prime-minister-confidence-vote-latam-intl
6. France returns slain king's skull to Madagascar https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cwy0qejppp7o
7. K. Opoku, Namibian bones in European museums. How long are the dead to remain unburied? Genocide with impunity.
Why do European museums have so much trouble with African bones?
Restitution Day 2024: Remembrance and reckoning https://www.modernghana.com/news/1355754/restitution-day-2024-remembrance-and-reckoning.html
AFRIMUHERE, Dignified reparatory repatriation and rest https://afforduk.org/wpcontent/uploads/2025/03/AFRIMUHEREPolicyBriefSummaryFINAL10.3.2025.pdf
Laying Ancestors to Rest https://afford-uk.org/return-of-the-icons/all-party-parliamentary-group-afrikan-reparations-appg-ar/laying-ancestors-to-rest/
Museums and auction houses should not hold human remains, UK lawmakers s
8. Artefacts in museum depots. German book on this point, Geoffrey Robertson, Who owns History?
9. BBC. Netherlands to return stolen Benin Bronzes to Nigeria https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cly8397e7gno
10. https://openrestitution.africa/resources/reports/rethinking-inventories-for-african-led-restitution/ Criticism of digitization.
11. Esleman Abay, The path to colonial reckoning is through archives, not museums https://eslemanabay.com/the-path-to-colonial-reckoning-is-through-archives-not-museums/
Aaron M. Hyman and Barbara E. Mundy, The colonial archive and its fictions thttps://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10609164.2023.2246831#abstract
Kenya receives British colonial archives, with new tech to preserve historyhttps://eastleighvoice.co.ke/national/97347/kenya-receives-british-colonial-archives-with-new-tech-to-preserve-history
Belgium to return to Rwanda the archives of the colonial period
Tim Livsey, Open secrets: the British ‘migrated archives,’ colonial history, and postcolonial history https://www.researchgate.net/publication/358861083_Open_secrets_the_British_'migrated_archives'_colonial_history_and_postcolonial_history
Étienne Taillemite https://www.persee.fr/doc/gazar_0016-5522_1964_num_46_1_4007
12. Arts Africains, Ed. Yaëlle Brio and Constantin Petridis, Citadelles and Mazenod, pp.584, 2025.
13. Kirsten Hauser and Elke Selter, Art Law Library, Hart,2025.
14. Lettres de mission, Rapport Sarr-Savoir, pp. 96-97. Translation:
'I wanted this action to be carried out as part of an in-depth reflection on our national collections’
15. K. Opoku, Man with conscience returned his grandfather’s looted Benin Bronzes https://www.modernghana.com/news/607681/man-with-conscience-returned-his-grandfathers-looted-benin.html
K. Opoku, Mark Walker’s second attempt to return looted Benin artefacts: Innovative approach by Pitt Rivers Museum?
https://www.modernghana.com/news/975208/mark-walkers-second-attempt-to-return-looted-beni.html
Peju Layiwola, Walker and the restitution of two Benin bronze (II)
https://thenationonlineng.net/walker-and-the-restitution-of-two-benin-bronze-ii/
16. New poll conducted by JL Partners on the reunification of the Parthenon Marbles https://www.parthenonuk.com/
eculture.com, Shift in the UK: Over Half of Britons Support Returning the Parthenon Marbles https://elculture.com/elcmagazine/shift-in-the-uk-over-half-of-britons-support-returning-the-parthenon-marbles/
ARTnews.com https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/morning-links-september-10-2025-1234751299/
The Times, More than half of Britons think Elgin Marbles should be returned. https://www.thetimes.com/uk/history/article/elgin-marbles-greece-poll-britons-return-0cbdl9d63
The Standard, 53% of public support sending Elgin Marbles back to Greece
New poll conducted by JL Partners on the reunification of the Parthenon Marbles https://www.parthenonuk.com/
https://www.parthenonuk.com/latest-news/1027-new-poll
17. K. Opoku, Defiant And Provocative British Museum https://www.modernghana.com/news/1408424/defiant-and-provocative-british-museum.html
18. K. Opoku, The Asantehene has spoken: Bring back the Treasures the British Army stole from Kumase in 1874 https://www.modernghana.com/news/1337025/the-asantehene-has-spoken-bring-back-the-treasure.html
19. British Museum to hold inaugural fundraising ball with ‘Met Gala ambition’ https://londonnewsnetwork.com/2025/09/26/british-museum-to-hold-inaugural-fundraising-ball-with-met-gala-
20. Greek Reporter, Greece Slams British Museum for “Insulting” Gala Amid Parthenon Marbles,
21. Greece Blasts British Museum for Parthenon Marbles Fashion Showhttps://greekreporter.com/2024/02/18/greece-blasts-british-museum-fashion-show-featuring-parthenon-marbles/
Greek Minister of Culture, Lina Mendoni declared “By organizing a fashion show in the rooms where the Parthenon Sculptures are exhibited, the British Museum, once again, demonstrates its zero respect for the masterpieces of Pheidias,”
22. All-Party Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Afrikan Reparations Conference 2025 https://www.appg-ar.org/uk-reparations-conference-recordings?ss_source=sscampaigns&ss_campaign_id=68f9f7a333579848c0e92643&ss_email_id=68fc872805b99b021b0f5486&ss_campaign_name=Thank+you+for+Attending+UK+Reparations+Conference+2025&ss_campaign_sent_date=2025-10-25T08%3A15%3A52Z
23. Clement Akpan, https://artjournal.collegeart.org/?p=19111
24. See for example, list of conferences and meetings presented on a page of RM* [restitution matters, a reliable and unfailing source of information organized by the Dutch scholar, Jos van Beurden, author of several books and articles on restitution. https://restitutionmatters.org/event-type/conference/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11HZIbOMV7Q
https://francais.news-pravda.com/world/2025/09/25/562336.html
https://www.myjoyonline.com/livestream-mahama-addresses-80th-un-general-assembly-in-new-york/
https://www.modernghana.com/news/1435243/the-ghanaian-oracle-president-john-dramani-maham.html
26.https://www.wallacecollection.org/documents/552/Asante_Gold_TN__latest_1.pdf
27. K. Opoku, Declaration on the Importance and Value of Universal Museums: Singular Failure of an arrogant imperialist project
28. K. Opoku, Looted Asante (Ghana) Gold in Wallace Collection, London: Return Stolen Items to Manhyia Palace, Kumase.
29. . K. Opoku, Have ethical considerations returned to restitution for good? Smithsonian adopts a policy on ethical returns,
https://www.modernghana.com/news/1162776/have-ethical-considerations-returned-to-restitutio.html
30. Mondiacult 2025 https://www.unesco.org/en/mondiacult
31. BBC, British Museum thefts: Director Hartwig Fischer quits over stolen treasures, https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-66621006
The Archaeologist, British Museum Director Resigns After Suspected Thefts https://www.thearchaeologist.org/blog/british-museum-director-resigns-after-suspected-thefts
ARTNEWS,
British Museum Director Hartwig Fischer steps down due to thefts
32. K. Opoku, Can we trust the British Museum with our cultural treasures?
https://www.modernghana.com/news/1257371/can-we-trust-the-british-museum-with-our-cultural.html
33. Le Monde, Louvre heist: Photos of the stolen jewels
Independent, Everything that was stolen in the daring heist https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/louvre-heist-france-news-latest-what-was-stolen-b2848270.html
DW Jewellery stolen from Louvre Museum in PARIS.
https://www.dw.com/en/jewelry-stolen-from-louvre-museum-in-paris/a-74415121
BBC, Everything we know about the Louvre heist https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cg7nrlkg0zxo
Hyperallergic, Louvre Museum Closed After Dramatic Daylight Heist https://hyperallergic.com/1050478/louvre-museum-closed-after-dramatic-daylight-heist/ France info Cambriolage au musée du Louvre : les premiers indices exploités par la police
34. ARTnews ,Another French museum robbed after $102 Louvre heist https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/french-museum-heists-continue-the-house-of-enlightenment-denis-diderot-1234758386/
BBC. Another French museum robbery sees 2,000 gold and silver coins stolenhttps://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cpwvzxnzjzzo
Le Monde, Thieves steal €600,000 worth of gold from Paris's Natural History Museum
The Adrien Dubouche National Museum in Limoges, in central France ,was robbed two dishes and a vase in Chinese porcelain classed as national treasures, with estimated value of 6.5 million euros. https://www.france24.com/en/live- news/20250917-gold-worth-600-000-euros-stolen-in-paris-museum-heist According to France 24, in November 2024, four men with axes and baseball bats smashed the display cases in broad daylight at the Cognacq-Jay museum in Paris, making off with several 18th-century works.
In November 2024 robbers attacked Hieron Museum in Paray-le-Moinl in Central France and made off with precious metals, jewels and ivory, known as "Via Vitae", a national treasure with an estimated value of seven million euros ($7.3 million), https://www.geo.tv/latest/575783-jewels-classed-national-treasure-snatched-in-french-heist
35. https://reopen.media/en-gb/articles/louvre-moves-crown-jewels-to-bank-of-france-after-heist
BBC, Louvre moves jewels to ultra-secure Bank of France vault after heist https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/crmxkl94w3zo
Indian Express After $102 million heist, Louvre moves crown jewels to Bank of France vault https://indianexpress.com/article/world/after-102-million-heist-louvre-moves-crown-jewels-to-bank-of-france-vault-10326473/
36. Le Monde, « Les musées ne sont ni des bastions ni des coffres-forts »
ARTnews, Museum Directors Support Louvre Director des Cars in Open Letter https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/curators-museum-directors-offer-support-in-letter-to-louvre-1234758931/
37. https://hyperallergic.com/1051113/the-louvre-heist-was-a-colonial-wake-up-call/
38. English translation ‘Felwine Sarr, Traces-Discours aux Nations
Africaines, 2021, pp.20-21, Actes Sud-Papiers.
We felt the original text by Felwine Sarr in French was so beautiful that we could not mutilate it with an inadequate translation until an official English version was available. The performance of this poem on the stage by Étienne Minoungou, with music by-Simon Winsé, is superb and highly recommended. https://www.rfi.fr/fr/podcasts/20200801-felwine-sarr-s%C3%A9n%C3%A9gal-traces-discours-nations-africaines
‘Shortly after this bloodletting, the predators returned draped in discourse of civilisation and enlightenment. But they were only after gold, ivory, land, minerals, able-bodied men for their wars, raw materials for their industries. They defiled sacred lands, ransacked cults, forbade the languages of the ancestors emptied the heads of children, stripped peoples of their names, subjugated them with the sophistication of their tools, sealed ancestral knowledge in contempt and oblivion, erected the inhuman and set up altars for it.
The Lord was their shepherd, and they devastated our green pastures.
They gagged the gods of the pantheon.
Shango fell silent and Legba no longer opened the roads.
Our peoples resisted valiantly but were eventually defeated. Vulnerable as they were. Weakened by internal quarrels, a brotherhood and trust that had been lost since venality pitted brother against brother during the human slave trade. The crack was there, ready to dig its own hole.
They gagged the gods of the pantheon.
Shango fell silent, and Legba did not open the paths again.
Our peoples resisted, valiantly, but ended up being defeated. Vulnerable as they were. Weakened by internal quarrels, a brotherhood and trust lost since venality had pitted brother against brother during the human trafficking. The crack was there, ready to dig its own gap.
The rift set in. It ploughed its hard furrow in bodies and minds.
The Continent took centuries to recover from the bloodletting.’’
Felwine Sarr, Traces-Discours aux Nations
Africaines, 2021 ,
IMAGES.
Princess Edeleyo, Benin, Nigeria, now in Humboldt Forum, Berlin, Germany, deposit from National Commission of Museums and Monuments, Nigeria.
Paintings from Abba Antonios Church, Gondar, Ethiopia, looted during the notorious Dakar-Djibouti Mission, wrenched from the walls by Marcel Griaule, head of the expedition and the artist, Gaston Louis-Roux, now in Musée du Quai Branly-Jacques Chirac, Paris, France, See Sarr-Savoy Report.
Golden Asante trophy head stolen by the British Army in 1874 during the invasion of the Asante capital, Kumase, now in Wallace Collection, London, United Kingdom.
Mandu Yenu ,Royal throne of Bamum, Cameroon ,now in Humboldt Forum, Berlin, Germany.
Otumfou, Asantehene ,Osei Tutu II, dancing in his palanquin with golden swords. Could he use instead, digitised swords?
Sapphire Diadem of Queen Marie-Amélie and Queen Hortense, stolen from Louvre on 1 9 October 2025.
Emerald Necklace from Marie-Louise’s Parure, stolen from Louvre on 19 October 2025.
Pair of earrings from the sapphire collection of Queen Marie-Amélie and Queen Hortense. stolen from Louvre on 19 October 2025.
Nefertiti ,Egypt, now in Neues Museum, Berlin ,Germany. Will the Egyptian Queen with the beguiling smile now return home to the Grand Egyptian Museum, Cairo ? https://culturalpropertyrepat.blogspot.com/2012/04/nefertitis-bust-time-to-go-home.html
Rosetta Stone, Egypt ,now in the British Museum ,London, United Kingdom.
Will this famous stone now return to the Grand Egyptian Museum ,Cairo, Egypt?
Grand Egyptian Museum, Cairo, Egypt. Will Western States return looted Egyptian artefacts?
Statue of Ramses II in Grand Egyptian Museum( GEM),Cairo, Egypt
Looted ancient statue of an Egyptian official from reign of Thutmose III that the Dutch will return to Egypt. Will Britain ,France, Germany, and USA also return looted Egyptian artefacts as the dynamic Zahi Hawass and others have been demanding over decades?
Former Legal Adviser, United Nations Office, Vienna.
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