This sculpture, known as the Bangwa Queen, is housed in the Dapper Foundation in Paris. It was gifted or stolen from the Bangwa grasslands region of what is now Cameroon by German colonial agent Gustav Conrau, then donated to Berlin’s Museum für Völkerkunde, purchased by American collector Harry A. Franklin in 1966, and sold by his daughter to the current possessor. A lawyer representing Bangwa king Don Fontem Asabaton and chief Fuatabong Achaleke says he’s written three times asking for information and dialogue over the Bangwa Queen sculpture, “‘We have received no substantive response, only requests for verification,’ Sullivan says. ‘As the party with power, resources and access to information, they have not given us the impression that they respect how meaningful these artifacts are to the community, nor that they intend to take us seriously.’”
Bangwa people fear most that the Bangwa sculpture will be auctioned off to a private collector and lost forever. The director of the Dapper Foundation, Christiane Falgayrettes-Leveau, says the organization has no intention of selling any items from its collection, “The Bangwa sculpture, like other works in the collection, will be part of international exhibitions,” she says. “The closure of the Paris building does not signal an end to the Dapper Foundation’s activities. In line with our mission for the past 30 years, we will mount exhibitions of ancient and contemporary art to give more visibility to the cultures of Africa and of its diasporas.” This justification that the art is for public appreciation is common. James Cuno believes it as he states in Culture War, “In an era of globalization that is nonetheless marked by resurgent nationalism and sectarianism, antiquities and their history should not be used to stoke such narrow identities. Instead, they should express the guiding principles of the world’s great museums: pluralism, diversity, and the idea that culture shouldn’t stop at borders” The popular discussion with the Parthenon Sculptures contains the same case with the British Museum saying that they “wholeheartedly committed to respectful collaboration worldwide, to sharing and lending the collection, and working in partnership for the benefit of the widest possible audience.”, according to the British Museum’s website
Is this argument enough to keep artwork from their original homelands? Is it enough to keep the Bangwa Queen in the Dapper Foundation’s hands? Or are organizations like the Dapper Foundation and the British Museum keeping the artwork from their homelands for their profit. Now of course some museums will say that they don’t profit off of these specific pieces, but are they not profiting by the popularity and attention it brings them? I would say they do. By keeping meaningful and famous pieces for themselves, they are recognizing the value the pieces have to the culture, while simultaneously rejecting the moral ties to that culture they claim to appreciate so much. It’s not for any museum to decide what is best for the public if that means disrespecting the culture where their art is from. The Bangwa Queen, along with all the other once stolen artifacts should be returned to their origin upon request. By keeping meaningful and famous pieces for themselves, they are recognizing the value the pieces have to the culture, while simultaneously rejecting the moral ties to that culture they claim to appreciate so much.
It’s not for any museum to decide what is best for the public if that means disrespecting the culture where their art is from. The Bangwa Queen, along with all the other once stolen artifacts should be returned to their origin upon request.
Citations:
Catherine Hickley, C. (2018, January 12). Paris’s Dapper Foundation stalls talks
over Cameroonian sculpture. The Art Newspaper. Retrieved March 23, 2024,
from https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2018/01/12/
pariss-dapper-foundation-stalls-talks-over-cameroonian-sculpture
Cuno, J. (2014, December). Culture war. Foreign Affairs. Retrieved March 23,
2024, from https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/africa/
culture-war?utm_medium… 1 of 14 10/7/21, 8:28 AM
The British Museum. (n.d.). The parthenon sculptures. The British Museum.
Retrieved March 23, 2024, from https://www.britishmuseum.org/about-us/
british-museum-story/contested-objects-collection/parthenon-sculptures
Greenberger, A. (2024, February 20). Looting, plundering, and more: 20 cultural
treasures that have faced claims of theft. Art News. Retrieved March 23,
2024, from https://www.artnews.com/list/art-news/artists/
most-important-looted-plundered-works-1234584727/
senegal-sword-france-return-museum-of-black-civilizations/
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