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In a wider effort to repatriate African cultural artefacts, France returned a sacred ‘talking drum’ that was looted in the Ivory Coast during its colonial rule of the West African nation, on Friday. The Djidji Ayôkwé (Panther Lion), as the talking drum is called, was displayed at the Trocadéro Museum and later at the Quai Branly Museum in Paris.
The drum was met by traditional dancers and local chiefs, as well as the Ebrié community, its original owners, at the Abidjan International Airport, after it arrived on a specially chartered plane.The ethnic group is based in Abidjan, the Ivory Coast’s largest city. It was traditionally used to give notice of a threat, mobilise people for war, and summon villages to ceremonies.
Ivory Coast’s Culture Minister, Françoise Remarck, said: “We are living through a moment of justice and remembrance that finally marks the return of the Djidji Ayôkwé to its land of origin.”
The talking drum is the first object on a list of 148 works that the Ivory Coast is seeking to have returned from France and other countries.
As restitution demands from former colonies increase, France’s Senate adopted a framework law on 29 January intended to make it easier to remove colonial-era artefacts from French national exhibitions.
By: Andrews Kwesi Yeboah