France returns sacred drum looted during colonial era to Ivory Coast

Abidjan, Ivory Coast — France returned a sacred talking drum looted during colonial times to Ivory Coast on Friday as part of a decades-old effort by the French government to return cultural artifacts to African nations.

It was the first to be returned to Ivory Coast from France, and was part of a wider campaign among European and Western governments to return the valuables after decades of resistance.

A huge carved wooden drum, once used by the Achan people of the Abidjan region to communicate between villages, was looted by French colonial authorities in 1916 and among at least 140 looted artefacts, Ivory Coast has asked France to return it.

“This is a historic day and a moment of justice and remembrance,” Ivory Coast Culture Minister François Remarque said at an event to receive the artwork at Félix Houphout-Bogny International Airport.

The wooden drum – hence the name “panther-lion” – measures about 11.5 feet (138 inches) in length and weighs approximately 950 pounds. Historians say it played an important role in warning villages about the recruitment of forced labor organized by the colonial authorities.

French President Emmanuel Macron first announced plans to repatriate cultural artifacts to African nations in 2018, after a report he commissioned from academic researchers recommended doing so. The French parliament last year passed a special law to remove Ivory Coast artwork from French collections, part of a broader effort.

The repatriation process required consultation with Atchan traditional leaders, who traveled to Paris to perform rituals that lifted the drum’s sacred status so it could be restored and transported.

For Atchan leaders attending Friday’s ceremony, the drum return has deep symbolic significance.

“After a long time away from its land, our sacred drum is finally returning to its people,” said Abousou Guy Mobio, head of Adjame-Bingerville village. “It’s like a missing piece of our history,” Mobio added.

To allow the wood to gradually adapt from the dry climate of Paris to the humid tropical conditions of Abidjan, to prevent cracking of the centuries-old wood, the artwork undergoes a period of acclimatization for a month in a safe place.

It is expected to go on public display in April at the newly renovated Museum of Civilizations in Abidjan.