[MSN] The newly opened Musée du Quai Branly is Chirac's present to Paris, but there is something very fishy about the president's legacy.

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A Blemish on Chirac's Museum 


The newly opened Musée du Quai Branly is Chirac's present to Paris, but
there is something very fishy about the president's legacy.

By Rudy Peters

PARIS¨ There are two rare Nok statues on display in the museum. The
sculptures are protected by law and cannot be traded. The statues should be
returned to Nigeria, but the French refuse to do that.

Mitterand gave Paris his Louvre pyramid, Chirac hopes that the residents of
the capital remember him for his museum for non-Western art, which is
situated in a brand new building by Jean Nouvel on the Quai de Branly in the
shadow of the Eiffel Tower. The museum that opened its doors last week
displays ancient artefacts from Africa, Oceania and Latin America, objects
that have been labelled 'primitive' for a long time.


 Two Nigerian Nok statues have been a source of controversy for many years.
Terracotta statues from the Nok culture belong to the oldest sophisticated
sculptures of Black Africa. These are often magnificent pieces of work,
which are very much sought after by collectors. Exporting these has been
prohibited for years and they are on top of the list of endangered African
archaeological objects of the International Council of Museums, ICOM. This
does not have any effect, however. Antique dealers relentlessly offer Nok
artefacts, whereby the Belgian dealers are leading the way. At the end of
last year De Morgen traced four Nok statues at an antique dealer in Antwerp.


"These objects are systematically stolen", according to the Interpol's
warning on its website. "They are protected by law and cannot be offered for
sale. We ask museums, auctioneers and collectors never to buy any such
objects." And yet there are Nok sculptures on display at a large museum in
Paris, a prestigious project by the French president no less. Should museums
not set an example? The archaeological community seems to think so and they
really laid into the French government. When Unesco celebrated the thirtieth
birthday of the Convention Against Illegal Culture Trade in Paris in 2000,
the Cambridge professor Lord Renfrew demanded that the Nok statues be
returned to Nigeria.
But they remained in Paris. 

Interpol strongly advises collectors against Nok statues which are now on
display in Chirac's prestigious museum

For years the French have relied upon a deal with the Nigerian government.
In 1998 the statues were offered for sale in Brussels. According to a report
of the Nigerian National Committee for Museums and Monuments Chirac asked
the Nigerian president for permission to buy them then. This was not
forthcoming. The Nigerian Monument Committee feared that such an agreement
would give a wrong signal: it would give the Nok trade a hint of legitimacy
and it would only encourage the looting of Nok sites. In 1999 Chirac tried
again and at that time the Nigerian president was willing to do this in
exchange for money and other support for the protection of the Nigerian
legacy. The objections of the committee were overruled.

According to opponents of the deal France ensured its immunity this way.
Because of all the fuss France set up a new deal, that the newspaper Le
Monde labelled as equally 'hypocritical': Nigeria continues to be the owner
of the statues, the museum has them on loan for 25 years, a period that can
be renewed every time. The description in the catalogue of both statues now
states 'Deposit of the Federal Republic of Nigeria'.


http://www.michelvanrijn.nl/artnews/morgen_chirac.htm