'Talking drum' looted by France in 1916 back in Ivory Coast

The Djidji Ayokwe "talking drum", which was looted by French colonial troops in 1916 and taken to France, arrived back in Ivory Coast Friday, in the latest repatriation of stolen artefacts.

The wooden drum, more than three metres (10 feet) long and weighing 430 kilos (950 pounds), was used by the Ebrie tribe to transmit messages.

It was officially handed over on February 20 after France's parliament approved removing the artefact from the national museum collections to enable its return.

Ivory Coast had asked in late 2018 for the return of the Djidji Ayokwe among 148 works of art taken during the colonial period. 

It arrived aboard a specially chartered plane at Ivory Coast's main city Abidjan and remained inside a huge wooden crate stamped "fragile", AFP journalists saw.

"It's an historic day and I feel deep emotion," Culture Minister Francoise Remarck said, welcoming its arrival at the airport, where the Ebrie community also sang and played drums.

"We are living a moment of justice and remembrance," the minister added.

French President Emmanuel Macron promised in 2021 to send the drum and other artefacts back home to the west African country. 

It is one of hundreds of objects France is preparing to send back to Africa, with the efforts set to be accelerated by the passing of a new law to authorise mass repatriations.

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"We are happy and relieved to know that this sacred piece of our culture is back on its native land," Aboussou Guy Georges Mobio, an Ebrie village chief, told AFP.

The drum will initially be held in a "safe space" to allow it to acclimatise, the culture minister said.

It is due to go on display at the Museum of Civilisations in Abidjan which has been specially renovated.

The "talking drum" was used by the Ebrie community to warn of danger, mobilise for war or call villagers to ceremonies.

It was seized by colonial authorities in 1916 before being shipped to France in 1929 and exhibited in Paris.

Senegal and Benin have also asked for the repatriation of their treasures.

In late 2020, the French parliament adopted a law providing for the permanent return to Benin of 26 artefacts from the royal treasures of Dahomey.

The return of cultural artefacts taken from ex-colonies in Africa and elsewhere has become a sensitive issue, with museums, institutions and collectors in Europe and the United States facing pressure to give them back.

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