Preview screening of Dahomey by Mati Diop

The winner of the Golden Bear at this year’s Berlinale is a one-hour experimental documentary film that documents the return of 26 looted art treasures from the Kingdom of Dahomey (now the Republic of Benin). The French-Senegalese director follows the shipment of the statues from the Museum Quai Branly in Paris to Aborney in Benin. Part observational, part dramatising, this film combines critical discourse analysis in the form of a captivating student debate at the University of Abomey-Calavi on post-colonial continuities, but also interweaves fantastic elements: the statue of King Gezo – known in museum storage simply as ‘Object 26’ – a successful military leader who ruled from 1818 to 1858 and helped the country to an economic boom, but who was also a slave trader, gives voice to his story: he is given voice by Haitian author Makenzy Orcel, allowing us to dive deeper into the mind of this ruling spirit.

What does this film mean for a German audience? In December 2022, the Rautenstrauch-Joest-Museum completed a transfer of ownership of 92 court artworks from the Kingdom of Benin to Nigeria. Afterwards, we will talk about the decades-long fight for the return of the Nigerian art historian Peju Layiwola, among others, and the complex history of the negotiations.

Followed by a discussion with:
Nanette Snoep (Director Rautenstrauch-Joest-Museum)
Maxa Zoller (Director IFFF Dortmund+Köln)
Didier Houénoudé (Professor of Art History at the Université d’Abomey-Calavi in Cotonou, Benin; DAAD Visiting Professor at the Institute for Art and Musicology, Dresden University of Technology)

In cooperation with Rautenstrauch-Joest-Museum.