Ivory Coast prepares to rediscover its sacred talking drum: a historic restitution

July 7, 2025 marks a major turning point in the recognition of looted African heritage during colonization. France has officially initiated the process of restitution of the talking drum Djidji Ayôkwé in Ivory Coast, a sacred object of the Atchan people (commonly called Ebrié), confiscated at the beginning of the 20th century by the colonial administration.

A drum that spoke to an entire people

Le Djidji Ayôkwé, whose name literally means "message drum," was no ordinary musical instrument. Used as traditional means of communication, this slit drum carved from a solid trunk transmitted messages over long distances using coded strikes. It was reserved for the Atchan chiefdom, in the village of Anono, in Abidjan.

A symbol of authority, wisdom, and power, it had the ability to unite an entire people, to announce decisions, births, deaths, or warnings. To remove it was deprive a community of an essential link between its past, its present and its identity.

Confiscated, exhibited, then put to sleep in a French museum

Confiscated in 1916 under the pretext of a colonial administrative measure, the drum was sent to France, where it was kept for decades. quai Branly museum - Jacques Chirac Paris.

For over a century, this object has been exhibited as an ethnographic work, without any real recognition of its sacred status or the pain of its loss.

A restitution that goes beyond the symbol

Today, as part of a policy of restitution of looted African works carried out by the French government, a specific bill allows the official return of the Djidji Ayôkwé drum to Ivorian soilThis gesture, welcomed by Ivorian cultural and traditional authorities, is part of a broader dynamics of repair and reappropriation of African heritage.

For the Atchan communities, this restitution represents much more than just returning an object : this is the rebirth of a spiritual bond, the reaffirmation of a history erased for too long, and an act of memorial justice.

The reactions

• Françoise Remarck, Ivorian Minister of Culture, welcomed a "victory of cultural dialogue and mutual respect".

• Among the traditional chiefs of Anono, emotions are running high. Preparations are already underway to organize a grand traditional welcoming ceremony of the drum in his home village.

After that ?

The return of Djidji Ayôkwé rekindles the question of the restitution of other African objects present in European museums. In Ivory Coast, this return will be accompanied by initiatives of heritage development, exhibition and transmission for the younger generations.

This drum may not resume its traditional sonic role, but it will become again what it should never have ceased to be: a landmark of memory, ancestral power and cultural identity.

The restitution of the talking drum of Ivory Coast is a victory for African heritage. cultural dignity, and for collective memory. It is also a strong reminder that culture is not a memory frozen in shop windowsbut a living force, that it is time to return it to those to whom it belongs.