French lawmakers green light bill to facilitate return of looted artefacts

French lawmakers pass landmark bill to streamline the return of colonial-era cultural treasures to nations of origin. | Contesto: cronaca

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• French lawmakers green light bill to facilitate return of looted artefacts

Contesto

In a decisive move, France's lower house of parliament, the National Assembly, has overwhelmingly approved a new bill designed to facilitate the return of cultural artefacts looted during the nation's colonial period. The legislation, passed with broad support, creates a clear legal pathway for the restitution of artworks and historical objects to their countries of origin, directly addressing long-standing claims from nations such as Mali, Algeria, and Benin. The bill represents a significant shift in France's approach to its contested cultural heritage, which has been housed in national museums for generations. For decades, restitution claims were mired in legal complexities, as French law deemed national collections "inalienable," effectively barring the permanent transfer of state-owned property. This new framework introduces specific, streamlined procedures to bypass that principle for objects identified as taken through violence, coercion, or in the absence of clear consent during the colonial era, which for France spanned from the 16th to the mid-20th century. The legislative action follows years of mounting international pressure and a landmark 2017 speech by President Emmanuel Macron in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, where he declared that "African heritage can no longer be a prisoner of European museums." That speech initiated a major report by academics Bénédicte Savoy and Felwine Sarr, which inventoried thousands of Sub-Saharan African objects in French museums and recommended large-scale returns. While a 2020 law allowed for the return of 26 artefacts to Benin and a sword to Senegal, the process was ad hoc. This new bill aims to establish a permanent and more efficient mechanism. The implications are profound for former colonies, particularly in Africa, which have long argued that the loss of these objects represents a cultural and spiritual amputation. Countries like Benin have successfully used the earlier, temporary law to reclaim treasures, such as the royal statues from the Kingdom of Dahomey, which are now centerpieces of national museums driving cultural tourism and education. For Algeria, which has sought the return of skulls of resistance...

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Categoria: cronaca