A film by Nora Philippe. Wednesday, September 9, 2026, Institut Français de Maurice.
Who owns the African artworks held in Western museums? How should we think about their return, their transmission, and their place in contemporary historical narratives? As questions surrounding the restitution of cultural property take on growing importance in international debate, the Institut Français de Maurice invites the public to an evening dedicated to these issues on Wednesday, September 9, 2026, at 6:30 p.m. The evening includes a screening of the documentary Restituer? L’Afrique en quête de ses chefs-d’œuvre by Nora Philippe, followed by a discussion with Vincent Négri, a legal scholar and researcher specializing in international cultural heritage law.
Co-produced by Arte and broadcast in 2021, the film traces more than a century of colonial plundering, the history behind the formation of major Western museums, and the struggles waged by states, researchers, and African communities for the return of their cultural heritage. Since its release, the documentary has been shown at numerous cultural and academic institutions around the world, as well as at UNESCO and the French National Assembly.
The screening will be followed by a discussion with Vincent Négri, a legal scholar and researcher at the Institut des Sciences Sociales du Politique (ENS Paris-Saclay) and an expert for UNESCO, UNIDROIT, ICOM, and ECOWAS. He notably contributed to drafting the legal section of the report Restitution of African Cultural Heritage: Toward a New Relational Ethics, submitted in 2018 to the President of the French Republic by Felwine Sarr and Bénédicte Savoy — a report that profoundly renewed the debate on restitution in France and internationally.
This event comes at a time of significant relevance. In France, the law of May 9, 2026 on the restitution of cultural property obtained through illicit appropriation marks a new step toward a more lasting legal framework, grounded in scientific expertise and cooperation between states. Vincent Négri’s visit to Mauritius is part of a Mauritian heritage preservation project initiated by the French Embassy in Mauritius and implemented by Expertise France in partnership with the Mauritian Ministry of Arts and Culture. His visit relates in particular to the law transforming the National Heritage Fund into the National Heritage Authority, intended to strengthen the institutional framework and powers for protecting Mauritian heritage.
In Mauritius, as throughout the Indian Ocean region, these questions resonate with the history of collections formed during the colonial period, and invite reflection on how heritage circulates, is passed down, and is narrated today.
