Dahomey

Plundered by French colonial troops in the late nineteenth century, 26 royal treasures from the Kingdom of Dahomey are about to be returned. What would these ancestral statues think about their homecoming? What do Benin’s university students think now? What about all the hundreds of items that remain in European arts institutions to this day? A French-Senegalese filmmaker, Diop’s work frequently tackles France’s colonial legacy in North Africa. She won Cannes’ Grand Prix for her debut feature, becoming the first Black woman to premiere a film in competition in Cannes.