France returns sacred 'talking drum' looted during colonial rule to Ivory Coast

BBC News - WorldCenterEN 2 min read 100% complete March 13, 2026 at 03:54 PM

AI Summary

medium article 2 min

France has returned a sacred "talking drum," known as the Djidji Ayôkwé, to Ivory Coast, over a century after it was looted by French colonial forces in 1916. The drum, a significant piece of Ebrié heritage used for communication and ceremonies, was displayed in French museums before its repatriation. The return, part of a broader French initiative to restitute African cultural artifacts, occurred after the French parliament passed a law authorizing the restitution. The drum arrived in Abidjan to a welcoming ceremony and will be displayed at the National Museum. Ivory Coast seeks the return of 148 works from France and other countries, with France enacting laws to facilitate the removal of colonial-era artifacts from its national collections.

Key Entities & Roles

Key Player Opposition Context

Museum of Civilizations 40% French Senate 40% Francis Tagro 40% BBC Africa 40% Quai Branly Museum 50% Paris 50% Ebrié community ×260% Abidjan ×460% Françoise Remarck ×270% France ×790% Ivory Coast ×895%

Keywords

talking drum 100% ivory coast 90% cultural repatriation 90% france 80% looted artefact 80% colonial rule 80% cultural heritage 70% restitution 70% ebrié community 60% museum 50%

Sentiment Analysis

Very Positive

Score: 0.60

Source Transparency

Source

BBC News - World

Political Lean

Center (0.00)

Far LeftCenterFar Right

Classification Confidence

90%

Geographic Perspective

Ivory Coast

This article was automatically classified using rule-based analysis. The political bias score ranges from -1 (far left) to +1 (far right).

Topic Connections

Explore how the topics in this article connect to other news stories

No topic relationship data available yet. This graph will appear once topic relationships have been computed.

talking drum ivory coast cultural repatriation france looted artefact colonial rule cultural heritage restitution ebrié community museum

Explore Full Topic Graph