"After a long stay away from this land, it is returning to its own people and it is an honour for us and a relief to welcome it. This is the missing piece of the puzzle that is returning today. Receiving this sacred instrument is a relief, but it is also another form of connection with our ancestors who were very close to this instrument."
"Talking drums are hourglass-shaped pressure drums designed to mimic the tone, pitch and rhythm of human speech. The 4-metre Djidji Ayokwe, which weighs 430kg, held cultural and political significance to the Ebrie people after whom the lagoon in Abidjan is named as a symbol of resistance."
"Before and during colonial times, it was used to send messages over several miles to announce deaths or celebrations and in some cases, alert villages about coming danger. After villagers resisted forced labour on a road in one incident in 1916, colonial authorities seized it and took it away to France."
The Djidji Ayokwe, a 4-meter-tall, 430-kilogram sacred talking drum, was returned to Côte d'Ivoire after being confiscated by French colonial authorities in 1916 and housed in the Quai Branly Jacques Chirac Museum in Paris. The drum held profound cultural and political significance to the Ebrie people, serving as a symbol of resistance and used to communicate messages across distances, announce important events, and warn of danger. Colonial authorities seized the drum after villagers resisted forced labor on a road construction project. The repatriation represents one of the most significant cultural restitutions to a former French colony in recent years, with Ivorian officials receiving the artifact and community leaders expressing relief and honor at its return.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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