“Transfers of Good Faith”: Two Years Post-Sarr Savoy Report and European Repatriation of Colonial Artifacts

By Kelley Tackett. 

On December 17, 2020, French legislators passed an unprecedented bill pertaining to the permanent return of objects violently looted from Benin during colonization (“the Bill”).^[1] The Bill, which passed through the National Assembly in July 2020, received unanimous support in early November from the French Senate.

The Bill envisages the return of 27 specific cultural artifacts to Benin from the Musee du Quai Branly Jacques Chirac in Paris within a year. They include 26 pieces from the Treasure of Behanzin (the last king of Dahomey, Benin) and a 19th century saber formerly belonging to the anti-colonial leader El Hadj Omar Tall.

The passage of the Bill was delayed due to continued internal debate concerning the process of restitution and the precedent the legislation may set. This bill, and the debates surrounding its impact and implementation should be understood in light of the 2018 Sarr-Savoy report, which called for the documentation and ultimate repatriation of the more than 90,000 artifacts removed from their countries of origin by French forces during colonization.^[2]