Is stealing art objects during the colonization of another country aims only for making the profit? Or does it also have a bigger political goal of ripping people off their history and cultural heritage so that they have nothing to hold on to when you will enslave and exploit them and their country?
Deutsche Welle documentary ‘Africa’s looted art’ raises this crucial question about the significance of the stolen by Europeans art and cultural objects for modern African people, especially the young generations. Even now, in the 21st century, despite of the numerous calls and some attempts for the revision of the colonialist history and its socio-economic impact on the African continent, stolen cultural and historic heritage sitting in European museums (often not even displayed to the public) allows Europe to look down at Africa and provide euro-centric education, books, and to claim that African culture is only ‘tribal’ and ‘primitive’.
So, I can’t help but think that this campaign of getting as many valuable art and cultural objects as possible out of Africa and bringing them to Europe was a very well thought-through political action. First, you deny people their cultural heritage, anything that can link them to their land and their ancestors and make them proud of that link, you basically break their national pride. Secondly, you tell them that you know better, you are more civilized, more educated, more ‘cultural’, so they have to obey you and look at you with admiration trying to become like you. And finally, you rewrite their history teaching little kids that before you there was nothing but trees and monkeys. This is how you destroy the nation as a concept, and colonize not only land and people but also people’s minds.
Now, the next interesting discussion stirred up in the film is the possible remedy.
How should the repatriations be done? All at once at the political
level? But many artifacts belonged to concrete families who are now claiming
their right to heritage.
Will these ancient artifacts be sufficiently preserved back at home,
especially in some countries that are still torn by war and poverty? After all,
this is a world cultural heritage. But then, who is Europe to decide what happens
to something that never belonged to it in the first place?
Is it enough to just return these art and cultural objects to remedy the
damage done by colonization? Shouldn’t the priorities be repairing economic consequences
or education? Well, maybe, it would be already a significant step forward if kids
in African countries started learning about the history, crafts and traditions
of their people and their country (which does not start from colonization) while looking at the
real objects instead of pictures in the book and feeling the value and significance
of these artifacts for their own identity.
This is what I love about DW documentaries: they leave more questions in your head than answers.
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