France’s return of Djidji Ayôkwé to Abidjan
France returned a sacred talking drum looted during the colonial era to Ivory Coast on Friday, delivering the artifact to Abidjan for an official handover. The ceremony for the drum, Djidji Ayôkwé, took place at Félix Houphouët-Boigny International Airport.
The drum had been used by the Atchan people of the Abidjan region to communicate between villages. French colonial authorities looted the drum in 1916, and it is among at least 140 looted artifacts Ivory Coast has asked France to return, according to the Associated Press report.
Ivory Coast Culture Minister Françoise Remarck called the handover “a historic day and a moment of justice and remembrance,” speaking at the event to receive the artifact. The wooden drum’s name means “panther-lion,” and it measures about 11.5 feet (138 inches) long and weighs roughly 950 pounds, the report said.
Historians said the drum played a key role in warning villages about forced labor recruitment organized by colonial authorities. The Associated Press report said the wooden drum’s return to Ivory Coast was France’s first such repatriation to the country.
Macron’s 2018 initiative and a special law last year
The return is tied to a nearly decade-old French effort to restore cultural artifacts to African nations. French President Emmanuel Macron first announced plans to repatriate such artifacts in 2018 after commissioning a report from academic researchers that recommended returning objects.
The process also involved changes in French law. The French Parliament adopted a special law last year that allows the Ivory Coast artifact to be removed from French collections, the report said.
Rituals with Atchan traditional leaders
The repatriation process required consultations with Atchan traditional leaders. The report said the leaders traveled to Paris to perform rituals intended to lift the drum’s sacred status so it could be restored and transported.
At the airport ceremony, Aboussou Guy Mobio, chief of the village of Adjamé-Bingerville, described the return in personal terms. “After a long stay far from its land, our sacred drum is finally returning to its people,” Mobio said, adding that “It is like the missing piece of our history coming back.”
Acclimatization and public display plans
After arriving in Abidjan, the drum will undergo a monthlong acclimatization period in a secure location. The report said the wood will gradually adjust from Paris’s dry climate to Abidjan’s humid tropical conditions to help prevent cracks in the centuries-old instrument.
The report said the drum is expected to go on public display in April at the newly renovated Museum of Civilizations in Abidjan.