Diop’s film not only records the joyous celebrations marking the objects’ arrival in Benin’s economic capital of Cotonou, but also shows young people debating the moment’s significance, given that thousands more artefacts remain in European collections.
“Restituting 26 works out of 7,000 is an insult,” one student says.
Diop herself: “These 26 works are good, but it’s not enough. It’s quite clear that there were way too few compared with the 7,000 works held captive in these museums, and I certainly think that it is humiliating.”
Musée du Quai Branly, France’s largest ethnological museum, holds 3,157 other objects from Benin in its collection. More are believed to reside in smaller museums and private collections.
