Europe’s Museums Might Return Artifacts to Africa

European countries consider returning controversial Colonial-era items to their African countries of origin.

Most recently, French president Emmanuel Macron said during a visit to Burkina Faso, a former French colony, “Africa’s heritage cannot just be in European private collections and museums.”

He’s assigned two experts to the task of negotiating a “temporary or permanent return of Africa’s heritage” within the next five years. But, last year, France rejected a request from Benin, another former colony, to return items. However, France now reconsiders that position.

Last month, Germany’s Culture Minister Monika Grütters created a new code of conduct for museums with Colonial-era artifacts. The code includes advice about publishing the historical context and seeking opportunities for long-term loans or joint custody.

Grütters said in a statement, “the Colonial era has been a blind spot in our culture of remembrance for too long” and said the German Lost Art Foundation would allocate some funding to Colonial-era artifacts, as well as looted Nazi-era art.

These moves are, unfortunately, rare in the art world, and other institutes have been slow to adopt similar policies. The British Museum, for example, is home to Maqdala Treasures and 700 items taken from the annexation of Benin in modern-day Nigeria. A museum spokesperson said they will not return the items.