USA Africa Dialogue Series - Miracles, Reverses........Looted African Artifacts (Opoku )https://www.modernghana.com/news/906639/miracles-reverses-and-hope-in-restitution-of-looted-africa.html

Miracles, Reverses, And Hope In Restitution Of Looted African Artefacts

By Kwame Opoku, Dr.

Head of an Oba, Benin, Nigeria, now in Bristol Museum, Bristol, United Kingdom of Great Britain.

''African art, like any great art, some would say, in any case more than any other, and for a long time if not always, is first of all in man, in the emotion of man transmitted to objects by man and his society.

This is the reason why one cannot separate the problem of the fate of African art from the fate of the African man, that is to say the fate of Africa itself."

Aimé Césaire, Discours sur l'art africain,1966.)

Readers know by now that no one can continue to follow restitution matters for long unless she or he is an optimist by nature. The last few months have given us more reasons than ever to believe that the future will bring us more joyful news. It is therefore useful to review very briefly some of these events and point out some of the difficulties on way. To be optimistic does not necessarily imply ignoring real difficulties that anyone must face who wants the restitution of thousands of looted African artefacts from western museums.

The greatest event in the history of restitution of looted African artefacts was undoubtedly the famous declaration made by the French President Emmanuel Macron on 28 November 2017 when he declared before an audience of students at the University of Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, that 'African heritage can't just be in European private collections and museums. African heritage must be highlighted in Paris, but also in Dakar, in Lagos, in Cotonou.' He declared his intention that within 5 years he wanted to see conditions established for the temporary or permanent restitution of African heritage to Afrtica. That was the first time, in the history of African and European relations that a European statesman, and for that matter a French president, had admitted that it was wrong to keep looted objects of Africans in Europe whilst Africans had no possibility to see and admire their own patrimony which is on show everyday in Paris and London. This was a miracle. ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

https://www.modernghana.com/news/906639/miracles-reverses-and-hope-in-restitution-of-looted-africa.html