Dahomey, Decolonisation and Cultural Identity

Mati Diop’s Dahomey (2024) covers the return of 26 treasures from a French museum to their home of Benin, Nigeria. Through stunning footage, the film displays a variety of perspectives on this historic moment, particularly the impact it has had on the cultural identity of the people of Benin.

Perspectives are mostly expressed within a floor for debates between students of the University of Abomey-Calavi following the grand unveiling of the treasures at the Presidential Palace. On the debate floor, one student argues that the format of a museum does not suit the nature of the treasures themselves as some of these treasures were designed to be carried after a loved one’s death as a commemoration, not to sit behind glass and be looked at by passers-by. This comments on how the museum itself is a Western invention, and, as seen with the French Museum, can act as a pillar of colonialism by displaying the treasures of the colonised within a symbol of the country’s own national identity. A student highlights the systematic issue of poverty, suggesting that museums are unfit to hold the treasures as children in working-class families might be unable to attend and appreciate their own history.

Despite this, there is almost unanimous agreement that the return of these treasures was a win for Benin’s cultural identity and that more treasures should be or should have been returned, as only a measly 26 out of over 7000 treasures were returned to Benin by the French. While there are logistical considerations that need to be made to allow for these returns to happen, the consensus is that this should not be a one-off and that France should feel obliged to return more stolen treasures as soon as possible.

The film’s narrator (framed as the inner thoughts of one of the treasures themselves, a wooden statue of King Ghezo) provides another perspective on the return of the treasures, in particular how the length of time these treasures have been under French possession has left the statue unsure of its position within the new, modernised Benin, arriving over a century after the collapse of the Kingdom of Dahomey where it once stood. Ghezo’s narrations expose a consequence to the theft of these treasures, that being a loss of national identity within Benin.

Published 14 Jan 2025