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Fi v e Years o f A LI PH
Article published in 2020
PREVENTION OVER CURE: THE MUSEUM OF CIVILIZATION OF CÔTE D’IVOIRE
Sarah Hugounenq Sunday, November 28, 2010. As the second round of presidential election voting came to an end, Côte d’Ivoire retired for the night with two presidents. The political crisis was deep, and violent clashes would go on to rock the country for five months. Against this backdrop, the situation for the Museum of Civilization of Côte d’Ivoire elicited little interest. With its particularly poor location at the entrance of the Plateau district, where the presidential palace is situated, and next to the military headquarters, Côte d’Ivoire’s most important museum was nevertheless a sizeable collateral victim. Looters walked off with 121 works, including sacred objects, royal insignia, ornaments, traditional textiles, and Sénufo and Wè statuettes and masks. Even worse, the entire collection of solid gold objects – 17th century Baoulé pendants, crowns, and fly whisks – were stolen and most likely melted down. “An entire part of Ivorian history was erased, as this material was closely tied with life of our country,” deplores Dr. Silvie Mémel-Kassi, the museum’s director. She continues: “My greatest fear is that history will repeat itself with the elections planned for fall 2020. I have flashbacks to the 2010 scenario, with its electric environment, incendiary speeches, and political turnarounds. In 2018, in front of the museum’s wooden doors, so easy to kick in, I started seeking out ways to forestall another potential crisis.”
