Looted Art from France

An emotional moment' as Benin welcomes back looted treasures from France

In 1892 French soldiers ransacked a palace in Benin, stealing 26 royal treasures from the country. Some of the artifacts included statues from the ancient kingdom of Abomey and the throne of King Behanzin. Yet in 2021 Paris agreed to return the lost art to the country. Therefore in November 2021, the lost art was returned to Benin. There was a ceremony held in Benin to welcome back the lost art, crowds of people lined the street. One woman said she traveled over 300 miles to witness the return of the artifacts. The returned artifacts will be placed in a new museum in Benin, that way the people of Benin can see what was taken from them. Hopefully, this will urge other countries to return what was stolen from Africa during colonization. Which includes over a thousand pieces stolen, just from what is now southern Nigeria. It’s not fair to have artifacts that don’t belong to you on display. 

Source: BBC News. (2021, November 11). Benin. Retrieved March 22, 2022, from https://www.bbc.com/news/topics/ce1qrvlelw0t/benin?ns_mchannel=social&ns_source=twitter&ns_campaign=bbc_live&ns_linkname=618c95fa1b17f0262dc3e9de%26Ceremony%20as%20Benin%20welcomes%20looted%20art%20from%20France%262021-11-11T04%3A36%3A46.744Z&ns_fee=0&pinned_post_locator=urn:asset:c5b9bd33-1928-455c-82c3-0376a64f7c1f&pinned_post_asset_id=618c95fa1b17f0262dc3e9de&pinned_post_type=share

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