Three years after the twenty-six Beninese artefacts left the Musee du Quai Branly– Jacques Chirac, three years after it dedicated an entire week to celebrating Beninese cultural and artistic fields with guests such as Beninese artists and cultural officials, the hype seems to have collapsed like a soufflé.
Strolling along the aisles of the museum in the African collections section, it is unsettling to notice a void.
The void left by the removal of the Dahomeyan pieces, further accentuated by an attempt to conceal the space they once occupied.
Even more strikingly, as I progress through the dimly lit universe-passing from one display case to another, from one museum label to the next-not a single word acknowledges their presence or the repatriation process of the twenty-six items.
The most iconic Dahomeyan artefacts have been replaced by works from Nigeria, the Republic of Benin’s neighboring country.
After their return, they were exhibited in Cotonou for three months. After this, the repatriated objects returned into the storage boxes within which they had crossed the ocean back home.
Once more, they ceased to be the focal point, their presence faded into obscurity, and their location became uncertain.
With the construction of the museum intended to house them yet to begin, they have disappeared from public view.
It remains unclear when they will resurfacing.
