Musée du Louvre - La Chaire du Louvre 2024 par Souleymane Bachir Diagne (2/5) : Louvre - Quels universels ?
The speaker addresses the historical and ongoing issue of returning cultural artifacts, primarily from Africa, that were taken during colonial times. The discussion highlights the importance of these artifacts to their original cultures and the psychological impact of their absence. The speaker references the work of Benedict Savoie and others who have documented the history and challenges of restitution. Examples include the return of objects to Benin and Senegal, and the ongoing negotiations for other artifacts. The speaker also discusses the role of museums and the changing attitudes towards restitution, emphasizing the need for a new understanding of cultural circulation that respects the origins and significance of these artifacts. The discussion also touches on the influence of African art on modern art movements and the importance of recognizing the dynamic and transformative nature of these cultural objects.
Key Points:
- Restitution of artifacts is a complex issue involving historical, cultural, and legal challenges.
- Many artifacts were taken during colonial times and are now in Western museums.
- There is a growing movement to return these artifacts to their countries of origin, with some successful examples.
- Museums and cultural institutions are increasingly recognizing the importance of provenance and the need for restitution.
- The influence of African art on modern art highlights the cultural significance and transformative power of these artifacts.
Details:
1. 👥 Warm Welcome and Introduction
- Acknowledge the presence of returning attendees to build a sense of community and continuity.
- Utilize personalized greetings to enhance engagement and make returning attendees feel valued.
- Encourage interaction by inviting returning attendees to share their experiences or insights from previous sessions.
- Transition smoothly to the next topic by summarizing key points and setting expectations for the upcoming sections.
2. 🏛️ Art at the Louvre: Placement and Restitution
- In the early 20th century, artists and avant-garde movements critically examined the placement of African, Asian, American, and Oceanian artworks at the Louvre, sparking debates on cultural representation.
- The Louvre's decision to maintain these artworks within its collection reflects an institutional endorsement of their placement, despite ongoing discussions about their origins and cultural significance.
- Restitution, the process of returning artworks to their countries of origin, remains a complex and contentious issue, highlighting the ethical and historical considerations involved in museum curation and international diplomacy.
3. 📚 Africa's Historical Restitution Battle
- The restitution of Africa's artistic heritage is a long-standing issue, dating back to the late 19th century.
- Benedict Savoie's book highlights the historical struggle for the return of African art and artifacts.
- Since the late 1950s and early 1960s, the issue of restitution has been linked with the decolonization movements.
- Ethiopia made early restitution requests for royal collections seized by the British army after the 1868 Battle of Magdala.
- Recent examples include the successful return of the Benin Bronzes, with Nigeria actively negotiating with Western museums.
- In 2018, France's President Emmanuel Macron commissioned a report advocating for the return of African artifacts, leading to increased international pressure.
- The return of artifacts is seen as a way to address historical injustices and restore cultural identity.
4. 🇫🇷 France's Restitution Efforts and Legislative Hurdles
- 26 objects have already been returned to Benin as part of France's restitution efforts, showcasing a commitment to addressing historical injustices.
- 1 object has been returned to Senegal, highlighting ongoing efforts to return cultural artifacts and the complexity of such initiatives.
- A legislative proposal in the French Senate aims to facilitate the return of looted artworks with a more streamlined process, though its examination is currently stalled, indicating bureaucratic challenges.
- The famous Didi Ayokwé is to be temporarily deposited in Côte d'Ivoire, reflecting strategic decisions in handling significant cultural assets pending further decisions.
5. 🌍 Global Restitution Dynamics
- A talking drum was recently deposited back to Côte d'Ivoire, highlighting ongoing restitution efforts.
- The drum cannot be fully returned due to legal challenges, as the framework law allowing restitution has not been examined or voted on by the current parliament.
- The drum was confiscated by the French colonial army in 1916 from the Ebrié community, with a restitution request made to France in 2019.
- The restitution issue in France became major following President Emmanuel Macron's speech, emphasizing the importance of this matter.
- Restitution claims are not limited to sub-Saharan Africa; for instance, the MOA statues are also subject to restitution discussions.
6. 🗿 The Moai Statues: Cultural Significance and Challenges
- The Moai statues on Rapanui Island are revered as deified ancestors, embodying deep cultural significance for the Rapanui people.
- A notable example of cultural restitution is the return of a Moai statue from the Natural History Museum of Santiago to Rapanui, after being held since 1870.
- Rapanui was annexed by Chile in 1888, and today the island seeks greater autonomy, reflecting the complex dynamics of cultural restitution within national borders.
- This case illustrates that restitution is not limited to international contexts, but also occurs within countries, highlighting broader issues of cultural heritage and ownership.
- The pursuit of autonomy by Rapanui is influenced by the desire to reclaim cultural heritage and identity, underscoring the intertwined nature of restitution and self-governance.
7. 🏛️ UNESCO's Influence on Restitution Policies
- UNESCO played a crucial role in restitution policies, particularly under the leadership of Senegalese Director-General Amadou Mortarmo.
- Amadou Mortarmo, a renowned African intellectual and leader, led UNESCO during a pivotal time in the late 1970s, advocating for restitution.
- In a 1978 UNESCO speech, Mortarmo emphasized the 'imperative necessity' of restitution, influencing the first major wave of restitution demands.
8. 🌐 Navigating Cultural and Colonial Restitution Complexities
- Certain artworks are seen as the most representative and their absence is psychologically intolerable for the communities that created them, highlighting the importance of cultural restitution.
- Anthropologists confirm that some artworks represent ancestors in a cosmology where they are revered and remembered, which provides the community with a vital force.
- On the island of Panuie, although the local population is predominantly Catholic now, the psychological impact of the absence of ancestral artworks remains significant.
- The merging of original cosmologies with different religious beliefs, such as Christianity or Islam, complicates the understanding and restitution of cultural artifacts.
- Examples of cultural restitution cases, such as the return of Maori artifacts to New Zealand or the repatriation of Benin Bronzes, illustrate the complexities and significance of these efforts.
9. 🗿 The Unique Story of a Moai at the Louvre
- The Moai at the Louvre was discovered during a joint archaeological excavation by France and Belgium, invited by Chile, in 1934-1935.
- This particular Moai is unique because it was not taken from its original resting place but excavated properly.
- As a gesture of thanks for the ethnographic expedition, the Chilean government gifted this Moai to the Musée de l'Homme in 1935.
- Another Moai was gifted to Belgium by Chile, making these the only two Moai with known provenance, excavated rather than removed.
10. 🇳🇬 Nigeria's Restitution Journey and Museum Interactions
- Many of the artifacts subject to restitution requests are housed in the British Museum.
- The environmental crisis, particularly climate change, is threatening the preservation of statues made from volcanic rock, which are starting to degrade.
- During cultural celebrations, African states faced challenges in displaying significant works of art, highlighting the impact of cultural asset absence.
- In 1966, Senegal successfully borrowed African art pieces for the first World Festival of Negro Arts, despite initial diplomatic hurdles.
- The Festac Festival in 1977, organized by Nigeria, struggled to obtain significant African artworks from international museums due to concerns over potential non-return.
- Nigeria was unable to secure the loan of an important ivory pendant from the British Museum for the 1977 festival.
- Efforts to retrieve artifacts are part of broader national strategies to reclaim cultural heritage, but progress is often slow and met with resistance from institutions holding the artifacts.
- The absence of cultural assets during key celebrations underscores a loss not only of heritage but also of potential cultural diplomacy and national pride.
- Collaborative international dialogues are ongoing to address restitution, yet significant breakthroughs remain sparse, highlighting the complex dynamics of cultural ownership.
11. 🎨 Museums, Public Opinion, and the Shift in Restitution Policies
- The British Museum's offer to provide a copy of an artifact to Nigeria was both late and seen as a refusal to return the original, highlighting ongoing tensions in restitution debates.
- Nigeria's leader, at the time, Obasanjo, emphasized the ability of Nigerian artists to continue creating authentic art, suggesting that the original artifacts might lose their cultural significance when placed in foreign museums.
- Benedict Savoie's book discusses the historical resistance from European museums to return artifacts to Africa, arguing that museums conferred universal value to these objects that they wouldn't have in their original context.
- European museums historically used the argument of 'universality' to refuse restitution, claiming that the artifacts gained new cultural significance in a Western context.
- French President Emmanuel Macron's speech in Ouagadougou reignited discussions on restitution as part of a broader policy of historical and cultural reparations.
- Modern museum directors and the public are increasingly sensitive to post-colonial issues, with public opinion exerting pressure on institutions to address provenance and restitution.
- An example from the United States shows that student pressure led to the return of a Benin bronze to Nigeria, illustrating the growing importance of provenance accountability in museum collections.
12. 🎥 Cinema's Role in Highlighting Restitution Issues
- Cinema is actively dramatizing the issue of restitution, leading to impactful films that address the topic.
- The film 'Restitué l'Afrique enquête de ses chefdœuvres' by Nora Philippe (2021) documents the narrative of cultural restitution, based on Fuin and Bénédict Savoie's work.
- Over 75% of Sub-Saharan Africa's cultural heritage is currently outside the continent due to historical colonial occupation.
- Nora Philippe's 2021 film serves as a documentary on the restitution of African artworks and objects held in Western museums.
- Reports by Bénédict Savoie and Feluinsar highlight that a significant portion of African cultural heritage is located outside the continent.
- European armies historically looted African art and cultural objects during military events, leading to their placement in European museum collections.
- The film by Nora Philippe has sparked increased public awareness and discussions about the restitution of African art, influencing cultural and political dialogues.
13. 🌍 Historical Context and its Cinematic Representation
13.1. Cultural Repatriation and Historical Narratives
13.2. Cinematic Representation and Symbolism
13.3. Cultural Heritage and Ownership
14. 📜 Documenting and Understanding Restitution Processes
14.1. Historical Context and Emotional Significance
14.2. Contemporary Efforts and Complexities
15. 🖼️ The Profound Impact of African Art on Modernity
- African art, when displaced, became a pivotal force in modern artistic and cultural development, countering the narrative of being mere colonial artifacts.
- These artworks significantly impacted modern artistic culture by providing new possibilities and questioning traditional artistic norms, such as proportion and idealized reality.
- Avant-garde artists were notably influenced by the visual language of African art, which offered new expressions beyond mere imitation of reality, aligning with Paul Klee's idea of making reality visible.
- Léopold Sédar Senghor viewed classical African art as a dynamic visual language, expressing the essence of existence through rhythm, which he defines as the architecture of being.
- Senghor suggests that rhythm is an internal dynamism that shapes objects and emits waves to others, likening it to a vibrant shock affecting the viewer.
- African artists convey life's force through tangible means like lines, surfaces, colors, and volumes, which Senghor describes as being ordered towards the 'light of the spirit.'
- To fully appreciate African art, Senghor argues for a rhythmic attitude, suggesting a dynamic engagement akin to dancing to truly see and understand the objects.
- He also highlights the spiritualization of objects, elevating them from mere tangible materials to the 'light of the spirit,' emphasizing their religious significance.
16. 🌀 The Spiritual Essence and Transformation of Art
- Artworks, including religious objects, inherently possess a religious significance beyond their documentary functions, which is inscribed in the object itself.
- The metamorphosis of art, as described by Malraux, involves the transformation of religious significance when original religious associations are absent, allowing art to embody spiritual force and convergence towards the light of the Spirit.
- African literature, similar to religious art, was often reduced to documentary function, but pioneers like Maurice Sarr showed its inherent literary value, emphasizing that literature speaks to literature.
- The religious function of objects is embedded within them, carrying the spiritual essence as described by Senghor, beyond their ceremonial roles.
- The piece 'Dieu Gou', a major piece at the Pavilion of Sessions, illustrates the transformation and religious significance of art, impacting artists like Picasso and Apollinaire, who referred to it as a 'pearl of the Daomé collection.'
- Cultural appropriation debates question whether avant-garde artists misappropriated African art, but the inherent power of these objects to speak and act shows their intrinsic creative force.
- The creative force in art aims to represent force, not merely mimic reality, transforming and transporting the artistic essence.
- Art objects are not just passive victims of cultural appropriation; they are powerful actors influencing 20th-century art as mutants, undergoing and instigating metamorphoses.
- Mutants, as a concept, indicates that these art objects have undergone transformation and also serve as forces of change.
17. 🔄 Reimagining Circulation and the Future of Restitution
- The concept of 'circulation' should be redefined to enhance the linkage between museums globally, from the North to the South, as the latter has developed its museum infrastructure.
- Museum directors often use 'circulation' to avoid the term 'restitution,' but it's crucial to give 'circulation' a new meaning that emphasizes connection and cultural exchange.
- Objects in museums should serve as rhizomes, creating networks and fostering cultural ties between different regions.
- There is a need to innovate the way we understand and implement 'circulation' to reflect a process of cultural linkage rather than a mere transactional exchange.
- For example, the Louvre's collaboration with museums in Senegal illustrates how 'circulation' can foster genuine cultural exchange and cooperation.
- The new definition of 'circulation' should include collaborative exhibitions, shared curatorial practices, and educational exchanges to promote mutual understanding and respect.