France Returns Talking Drum to Ivory Coast
France has returned the culturally significant "Talking Drum" to Ivory Coast in a major act of art restitution. The move continues the broader trend of European institutions addressing colonial-era collections and returning artifacts to their countries of origin.
- The returned artifact is the Djidji Ayôkwé, a sacred talking drum of the Ebrié people. French colonial troops seized it in 1916. This drum was used to transmit messages between villages, and for the Ebrié people, it represents a living archive of their identity and a symbol of unity and resistance. - The drum is a significant object, measuring over three meters (about 10 feet) long and weighing around 430 kilograms (950 pounds). Before its return, it was held in the collection of the Musée du Quai Branly–Jacques Chirac in Paris. - The return is the result of a formal request made by Ivory Coast as far back as 2018 for the restitution of 148 artifacts. The French National Assembly had to pass special legislation in July 2025 to allow the drum to be removed from the national collections, overcoming the legal principle of "inalienability". - The official handover ceremony took place in Paris on February 20, 2026, and was attended by the French Minister of Culture, Rachida Dati, and her Ivorian counterpart, Françoise Remarck. - This act of restitution is part of a broader movement that gained momentum after a 2017 speech by French President Emmanuel Macron in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, where he pledged to make the return of African artifacts a priority. - A key document influencing this trend is the 2018 report by Senegalese academic Felwine Sarr and French art historian Bénédicte Savoy. The report recommended the permanent restitution of African cultural heritage that was taken without consent. - Upon its return to Ivory Coast, the Djidji Ayôkwé is planned to be permanently exhibited in a new museum in Abidjan.
