Online Reporter
ABIDJAN. – The Djidji Ayokwe, a sacred “talking drum” which was looted by French colonial troops in 1916 and taken to France, arrived back in its home village in Ivory Coast on Friday.
The ceremony, on Ivory Coast’s national independence day holiday, was the first time today’s Ivorians were able to see it.
The imposing wooden drum, more than 3 metres long and weighing 430kg, was used by the Ebrie tribe to transmit messages.
It was officially handed over in February and arrived back in Ivory Coast in March aboard a specially chartered plane but was not taken out of its huge wooden crate.
Ivory Coast had asked in late 2018 for the return of the Djidji Ayokwe among 148 works of art taken during the colonial period.
It is one of hundreds of stolen artefacts Paris is preparing to send back to Africa, aided by the approval in May of a new French law.
On Friday, it was carried in a military parade through the Yopougon district of Abidjan, before continuing on to the village of Adjame, where it was made.
The black, white and red instrument was transported in a glass-fronted case on a large, decorated float and welcomed by Culture Minister Francoise Remarck, traditional leaders and hundreds of local residents.
A dozen people performed a libation ceremony, pouring a few drops of liquid onto the ground as an offering to their ancestors.
“A nation cannot develop if it doesn’t preserve its memory and promote its heritage,” said Adjame mayor Farikou Soumahoro. – AFP.
