Marie-Cécile Zinsou: restitutions of works “restore respect” between France and Benin

by

Published on : Modified :

Marie-Cécile Zinsou, passionaria of African art, has fought tirelessly for more than 15 years through the eponymous foundation based in Benin to introduce this cultural richness to Africans and around the world. She hopes that new restitutions of major works of Beninese heritage still held by France will soon take place.

Marie-Cécile Zinzou says she is “optimistic” about the restitution of African works of art. For her, the exceptional law voted by French parliamentarians in December 2020, which made it possible to authorize the restitution of 27 Beninese and Senegalese works, represents an important step forward. However, she says she is disappointed with the new postponement of the arrival of the works in Benin. While infrastructures were ready to welcome them, the Beninese authorities decided to organize an exhibition in Paris.

For this art historian, the restitution of works is an act that profoundly modifies the relations between African countries and the former colonial powers. The approach “restores respect” in Franco-Beninese relations, she said. If Marie-Cécile Zinzou says she is satisfied with these developments, she recalls that it was France which alone produced the list of objects that the country could return to Benin. The president of the Zinzou foundation is thus awaiting the restitution of other major works of Beninese heritage still held by France.

However, she analyzes the Sarr-Savoye report, named after the researchers commissioned by the French president on the restitution of works, as having allowed a major advance. Other countries, such as Germany, have also returned certain African works.