Named as head of the Musée du quai Branly after a six-month transition period, the former director of Noumea's Tjibaou Cultural Centre talks about the meaning he sees in his appointment, restitution, the search for provenances and contextualising the collections.
Does the appointment of a curator to head the Musée du quai Branly-Jacques Chirac confirm the burial of the Savoy-Sarr report? This report could not serve as a guideline, but it was an appeal to our conscience. We need to go into the history and documentation of collections in more depth, particularly in terms of provenance and biographies; research shows that some situations are not necessarily black and white, but more often than not grey.
But even the restitution of objects to Benin announced in 2017 has not yet taken place, because there is no suitable venue for the works. Its principle is based on the violence of this plundering. Whatever they say, there are museums in Africa where the works could be exhibited. For instance, the Museum of Black Civilisations in Dakar, which I visited in September 2018, meets all international standards. And it shouldn't be limited to museums alone: there are institutions like the "Route des Chefferies" in sub-Saharan Africa. We…
com.dsi.gazette.Article : 15333
This article is for subscribers only
You still have 85% left to read.
Print the article
