‘Their absence has been an open wound in the heart of our island for more than a century, 128 years,’ said his Madagascan minister Volamiranty Donna Mara.
Transported to the Ministry of Culture in trunks covered with traditional fabrics, these three skulls from the Sakalava ethnic group were symbolically handed over to the Madagascan authorities and will return to the Indian Ocean island on 31 August to be buried there after several days of ceremonies.
Their return to Madagascar ‘marks a historic event,’ said French minister of Culture Rachida Dati, recalling the commitment made in 2017 by President Emmanuel Macron to speed up the restitution of artefacts from France to its former colonies. Other former colonial powers are following suit.
These skulls are not ‘mere collector’s items,’ said Volamiranty Donna Mara. ‘They are the invisible and indelible link that connects our present to our past.’
According to Rachida Dati, the scientific and historical work that preceded the restitution made it possible to establish ‘with certainty’ that the returned skulls did indeed come from the Sakalava ethnic group, but without being able to formally link them to King Toera.
