Like the doll Karen Black had to face.
Posted on 11/22/2018 4:42:42 PM PST by CondoleezzaProtege
Experts appointed by President Emmanuel Macron will advise him on Friday to allow the return of thousands of African artworks held in French museums, a radical shift in policy which could put pressure on other former colonial powers.
Calls have been growing in Africa for the restitution of their cultural treasures, but French law strictly forbids the government from ceding state property, even in well-documented cases of pillaging.
But in a speech in Burkina Faso in November last year, Macron said "Africa's heritage cannot just be in European private collections and museums."
He later asked French art historian Benedicte Savoy and Senegalese writer Felwine Sarr to study the matter, and they are to present Macron with their report on Friday.
According to a copy seen by AFP, they recommend amending French law to allow the restitution of cultural works if bilateral accords are struck between France and African states.
Of the estimated 90,000 African artworks in French museum collections, around 70,000 are at Paris' Quai Branly museum, created by ex-president Jacques Chirac, a keen admirer of African and Asian arts.
In order to proceed with any restitutions, "a request would have to be lodged by an African country, based on inventory lists which we will have sent them," according to the report.
The prospect has raised hackles among some curators and art dealers who say it would eventually empty museums and galleries in some Western countries.
Critics also say the move could prompt private French collectors to move their works out of the country for fear of seizure.
European conservationists have also raised practical concerns, worrying artefacts could be stolen or handled improperly if given to inexperienced museums in politically unstable countries.
(Excerpt) Read more at thelocal.fr ...
The “art” probably came with a curse. Getting rid of them might help. France has been on a downward trajectory for a century.
“European conservationists have also raised practical concerns, worrying artefacts could be stolen or handled improperly if given to inexperienced museums in politically unstable countries.”
Hmm. So these elite Euros think that the Africans can’t take care of their own artwork. How gauche and UN-PC. Shades of Kipling’s “White man’s burden”.
Like the doll Karen Black had to face.
I agree. Ugliest stuff ever.
Good find! ...That was really a creepy episode.
The Elgin Marbles being the most sought after. I could NEVER support returning the plundered marbles .... along with treasures from scores of unstable governments.
Great treasures are STILL in danger of being plundered.
It’s not fair ... but better than losing heart forever.
A lot of the stuff being sold today as “African art” is actually made in China.
Or Indonesia… esp. wood carvings.
Preserved only to be sent where they will disappear into warlord (or their ilk) homes and/or be trashed.
I had one in the front yard of an old house we bought years ago. The paint had mostly faded but you could tell he was Caucasian by the shape of the face. The concrete eventually crumbled on the arms so that his hands were the rebar sticking out. When I drove by a year after we sold the house, he was still there so I guess the new owners liked him too.
Or just badly handled...witness the recent bungled attempt by an Egyptian museum to restore a damaged mummy. They finally had to call in the European experts to “fix” it right...and even after all that, it’s still “damaged”.
And then there’s the recent disaster in Brazil, with an entire museum going up in flames.
Sooo... just another shakedown attempt along the lines of “shame and collect”.
They will all mostly be destroyed or stolen within 5 years. Either by the corrupt government themselves, or the incompetent government allowing it to happen.
Well, the Elgin Marbles perhaps. Would you want to see them returned to Greece? I wouldn’t/. The is a good chance they would be destroyed. How about the massive amounts of Egyptian antiquities stolen by lots of people. I would not wAnt them returned to Egypt.
Just look at what the Muslims have done to Syria’s heritage in the last few years. They turned it to dust since they are so easily offended due to Mohammed restrictions.
BTW, George Clooney wife is in charge of wresting the Elgin Marbles from Britain ... even though Greece is terribly unstable. Absolutely priceless!!! She willl get them as she is so popular these days. What a travesty!!!
The exception being Alexandria. But that was a Greek city.
I agree completely. Returning all those artifacts would lead to no good. Destruction or theft and black market sales.
Like I said, it’s just another vehicle to scam money out of the cultured Western nations.
Well, Frasier?
Dang, I couldn’t find the clip I wanted from “Deconstructing Harry”. Disappointing, probably not surprising.
The clip was deconstructed? :-))
No
It’ll be lost in the morass of kleptocrats and cannibals with fancy uniforms
This really is something whites do better
Preserving art and antiquities
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