Ivory Coast displays art returned from German researcher's collection

ABIDJAN - Between the 1930s and the 1970s, German ethnologist Hans Himmelheber journeyed across Ivory Coast amassing a collection of ritual objects.

Today, around a hundred pieces he bought from local artists - along with 15,000 photographs and a dozen films - have been handed back to their country of origin.

Masterpieces from the Senufo, Dan, Baoule and Guro peoples, as well as everyday objects, are now on show in the cities of Abidjan and Man.

Ivorian schoolchildren crowd around masks, finely carved turtles, and ceremonial spoons once admired by visitors of Zurich's Rietberg Museum.

They have flocked to the Himmelheber archive at the Adama Toungara museum in economic capital Abidjan.

Running until 8 March, the exhibit retraces the journeys made by the researcher, who died in 2003.

It also features 24 of the 107 returned objects, alongside thousands of digitised photos and films shot by Himmelheber.

Among the highlights: a striking "wabele" hood mask and a Dan runner's mask with delicate feminine features.

The return of cultural artefacts taken from ex-colonies in Africa and elsewhere has become a sensitive issue, with museums, institutions and collectors in Europe and the United States facing pressure to give them back.

Although Himmelheber "always bought his pieces... we cannot ignore the colonial context that sometimes forced people to sell", said Michaela Oberhofer, head of the Africa and Oceania collections at the Rietberg Museum.

Although returns of African cultural heritage are increasing, experts say such gestures remain rare.

"This donation is key to diversifying our collections," said Francis Tagro, director of Abidjan’s Museum of Civilizations, set to reopen this year after renovations.

REVIVING MEMORY

In 2025, Switzerland and Ivory Coast signed a deal on cultural asset returns.

Alongside the restitution, research projects and workshops were funded.

Himmelheber's photos and films were screened in 16 Dan villages he often visited, shown to younger generations.

"Some people recognised their ancestors - it was very moving," Oberhofer said.

A meticulous researcher, Himmelheber documented artists' techniques and styles during his travels.

"African art is anonymised," his son Eberhard Fischer told AFP.

"But my father treated artists as seriously as Picasso or Paul Klee."

His trips also revealed ornate loom pulleys and pottery, challenging stereotypes that African art is "limited to masks and figures", Oberhofer added.

Ivory Coast now awaits the return of the Djidji Ayokwe "talking drum", which French colonial troops took in 1916.

Its return was approved by the French parliament in July.