Volkswacht Bodensee - French Senate adopts bill to return colonial-era art

The draft legislation was unanimously approved by the upper house and will next be sent to the National Assembly lower house before it can become law.

France still has in its possession tens of thousands of artworks and other prized artefacts that it looted from its colonial empire.

President Emmanuel Macron has gone further than his predecessors in admitting past French abuses in Africa.

Speaking on a visit to the Burkina Faso capital Ouagadougou shortly after taking office in 2017, Macron vowed that France would never again interfere in its former colonies and promised to facilitate the return of African cultural heritage within five years.

Former colonial powers in Europe have slowly been moving to send back some artworks obtained during their imperial conquests, but France is hindered by its current legislation.

The return of every item in the national collection must be voted on individually.

Designed to streamline the process, the bill under consideration specifically targets property acquired between 1815 and 1972.

"The idea is not to empty French museums, but to achieve authenticity in France's response, without denial or repentance, but in recognition of our history," said centrist Senator Catherine Morin-Desailly.

In 2025, France's parliament approved the return to Ivory Coast of a "talking drum" that colonial troops took from the Ebrie tribe in 1916.

France has been flooded with restitution demands, including from Algeria, Mali and Benin.

The restitution of looted artworks to Africa is one of the highlights of the "new relationship" Macron wanted to establish with the continent.

In 2023, France adopted two so-called framework laws to return objects in two categories: one for goods looted from Jewish families during World War II, and another for the repatriation of human remains from public collections.

A.Ruegg--VB