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A student at the University of Abomey-Calavi grapples with the return of stolen treasures from Dahomey.
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November 2021. 26 royal treasures of the Kingdom of Dahomey are about to leave Paris to return to their country of origin, the present-day Republic of Benin. Along with thousands of others, these artefacts were plundered by French colonial troops in 1892. But what attitude to adopt to these ancestors’ homecoming in a country that had to forge ahead in their absence? The debate rages among students at the University of Abomey-Calavi.
"Dahomey is a documentary by director Mati Diop (Atlantics) that won an award at the 2024 Berlin Film Festival and raises a wide variety of questions in just over an hour of footage, based on a single event. The film narrates the restitution of 26 treasures from the ancient kingdom of Dahomey by France to what is now the Republic of Benin. From this event, and with a mysterious narrative voice that brushes with fiction, arise questions and reflections on colonialism, the institution of museums, the relationship of a people with their art and culture, issues of centralism and access to education, among many others. It is an excellent documentary that, while situated in a specific context (the bilateral relationship between Benin and France), presents intriguing questions about colonialism that are relevant to virtually any culture that has experienced colonization and plunder."