France returns 26 treasures of art to Benin

By the end of October, France will return to Benin the 26 valuable treasures of art that have been removed from the African country more than a hundred years ago, French President Emmanuel Macron announced on Friday.

The so-called Béhanzin treasures were seized during the colonial wars in 1892 in what is now the kingdom of Benah and Nigeria in Dahomey, when the French army looted the royal palaces of Abomey. Items include a royal throne, the most valuable piece of nearly 70,000 African art treasures preserved in the Quai Branly-Jacques Chirac Museum in Paris.

Photo: CHRISTOPHE ARCHAMBAULT / AFP

Following the 2017 election of the French President, the French authorities promised that the French their works of art to the countries of origin. The Benin antiques, whose restitution was also voted on by the French parliament last December, will be handed over at a ceremony attended by Benin President Patrice Talon. Most of the treasures are currently housed in the Quai Branly-Jacques Chirac Museum in Paris. also with abducted art treasures. A separate meeting at the summit was dedicated to the issue of abducted art treasures on Friday. The president wants to put his relationship with African countries on a new footing, one of the key elements of which is the restitution of looted art treasures. (MTI, AFP)

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