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More than 900 archaeological and ethnographic objects resulting from looting and illicit trafficking were officially returned, this Tuesday, December 7, to the Malian authorities, from the United States. It was during a ceremony chaired by the Transitional Prime Minister and the American Ambassador to the National Museum of Mali.
With our correspondent in Bamako, Kaourou Magassa
In a crowded exhibition hall, hundreds of people came to the National Museum to see the 900 or so historical works that had returned to their country. Most of these items, seized by US customs between 2008 and 2011, had been illegally exported to the United States. A satisfaction for Choguel Maïga, Prime Minister of the transition, for whom this step enters the broader debate of restitutions.
« Our cultural heritage must not remain a prisoner of museums in other countries. The fine example that the United States of America has just given deserves to be followed by all the countries where objects of African cultural and archaeological heritage are preserved. »
Prime Minister Choguel Kokalla Maïga chaired the ceremony on Tuesday for receiving archaeological and ethnographic objects from Mali, resulting from looting and illicit trafficking, from the United States of America. .co / BHlDKKEigC pic.twitter.com/FvEQ4BUv07
– Prime Minister of Mali (@GouvMali) December 7, 2021
In a symbolic gesture and under the crackle of the photographers, Dennis Hankins the American ambassador gives a century-old carved stone to the Prime Minister of the transition. Under the gaze of Daouda Keita, director of the museum.
« It is now the work of documentation which will begin, it will consist first of making an inventory then the documentation before the objects enter the collection of the museum. That is very important to have information on each part that is in this package. »
This operation was made possible thanks to a bilateral agreement between the two countries on restrictions and the importation of cultural objects signed in 1993. Out of 23 countries in the world, Mali is the only sub-Saharan African state to benefit from this type of agreement with the United States.
A thematic exhibition around these works is announced for the coming months. To sensitize the Malian populations against looting and allow them to access their heritage.
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