Repatriation and Reflection: Dahomey and the Complex Journey of African Artifacts

Summary

Mati Diop’s documentary Dahomey delves into the return of 26 royal artifacts from the Kingdom of Dahomey (modern-day Benin) to Cotonou, exploring the broader significance of cultural repatriation. The film, inspired by the 2018 Sarr-Savoy report on African cultural heritage, highlights the perspectives of the Beninese people, particularly youth, on the meaning and implications of these returns. Diop documents the journey of the artifacts, giving a voice to one piece, the 26th artifact, in a symbolic narrative that reflects on colonial history and the ongoing struggle for cultural ownership. Rather than merely showcasing a political act, Dahomey invites debate on the deeper ethical, cultural, and political dimensions of restitution, presenting the repatriation process as a call for self-determined identity and reflection within African communities.

Mati Diop's Dahomey addresses not only the return of Beninese artifacts but also the need to refocus the conversation on the voices of the Beninese people. In 2018, Senegalese philosopher and economist Felwine Sarr and French art historian Bénédicte Savoy were invited by President Emmanuel Macron for discussions with S.E.M Auguste Alavo, Benin’s Ambassador, in Paris. This led to the groundbreaking Report on the Constitution of African Cultural Heritage: Toward a New Relational Ethics, following Macron’s unprecedented 2017 speech in Ouagadougou pledging steps for returning African cultural heritage to the continent—a first in French political history. The 252-page report covers topics like defining colonialism as a crime against humanity, retracing advocacy for restitution since the 1960s, and envisioning artistic repatriation as a step toward “new relational ethics.” It has sparked extensive debate among scholars, artists, and the public, inspiring new repatriation initiatives. Divided into three sections—“To Restitute,” “Restitutions and Collections,” and “Accompanying Returns”—the report has drawn both praise and criticism. In this context, Dahomey, Diop’s second documentary feature, contributes to the visual archive of the report's third section, focusing on the return of 26 royal treasures from the Kingdom of Dahomey (now Benin) to Cotonou. The film centers on these artifacts, once housed in Paris’s Musée Quai Branly after their seizure by French troops in the 1892 Second Franco-Dahomean War. Diop creatively animates the “26th” artifact, a bronze statue of King Ghezo of Dahomey, as the film’s protagonist, giving voice to the artifacts and delving into their journey back home. Initially envisioned as a fictional narrative, Diop shifted to a documentary format after the Benin repatriation announcement in 2021. She chose to document the journey of the artifacts, with each piece “speaking” in Fon, as written by Haitian writer Makenzy Orcel. Rather than expressing faith in Macron’s promises, Diop aimed to incite social dialogue within African communities, particularly among youth, instead of leaving it to government discourse, media headlines, or Western institutions. A significant part of the film features a 20-minute debate with Beninese students from the University of Abomey-Calavi, who share their diverse interpretations of the artifacts’ return. The film begins in Paris, with shots of a miniature Eiffel Tower figurine before moving to the Musée Quai Branly, where thousands more Beninese artifacts remain. Alternating between silent, eerie surveillance footage of the museum’s storage rooms and shots of the artifacts being prepared for travel, the film creates a haunting atmosphere, situating viewers in the artifacts’ perspective. Upon arrival in Cotonou, the treasures are taken to the Presidential Palace, where they’re installed by workers and appraisers. The film blends intimate close-ups and repeating compositions that emphasize the connections between artifacts, people, and places involved in this repatriation story. A core section of Dahomey features a passionate student debate filmed over two days at the university, where students openly voice their perspectives on the artifacts' return. They question its symbolic and practical value, discuss the potential exploitation of Beninese culture by France, and stress the need for an education system in local languages like Dendi or Fon to make the artifacts accessible to all Beninese. Through interviews and symbolic shots, Diop introduces broader reflections on restitution as defined in the Sarr-Savoy report, which is not just about the physical return of items but also about creating new spaces for cultural and political imagination. Diop uses the film to archive this living, open-ended discourse, capturing the voices of those most impacted by the repatriation. In October 2024, Dahomey was released during a time of political tension in France. Despite Macron’s original commitments, only two of the three framework laws on restitution have been adopted, highlighting the fragile progress of the repatriation movement. Diop’s film stands as a reminder that the story is ongoing and that, as Ousmane Sembène once said, “I am myself the sun.”