Ivory Coast has opened exhibitions featuring Ivory Coast art returned from Germany, after around 100 objects from a collection assembled by German ethnologist Hans Himmelheber were handed back to the country of origin, according to AFP.

Himmelheber travelled across Ivory Coast between the 1930s and the 1970s, collecting ritual and everyday objects. The returned materials also include about 15,000 photographs and around a dozen films, AFP reported.

In Abidjan, schoolchildren have visited the Himmelheber archive at the Adama Toungara museum, where the exhibition runs until March 8. The display retraces Himmelheber’s journeys and includes 24 of the 107 returned objects, alongside thousands of digitised photos and films. Highlights include a “wabele” hood mask and a Dan runner’s mask described as having delicate feminine features.

Why Restitution is Intensifying — and What Comes Next

The exhibitions land amid rising pressure on museums, institutions and collectors in Europe and the United States to return cultural heritage taken from former colonies, according to AFP.

Michaela Oberhofer, head of the Africa and Oceania collections at Zurich’s Rietberg Museum, said Himmelheber “always bought his pieces,” but added that “we cannot ignore the colonial context that sometimes forced people to sell,” AFP reported.

Francis Tagro, director of Abidjan’s Museum of Civilizations, said the donation is important for diversifying collections, with the museum set to reopen this year after renovations, according to AFP.

AFP also reported that Switzerland and Ivory Coast signed a 2025 agreement on cultural asset returns, alongside funding for research projects and workshops. Himmelheber’s photos and films were screened in 16 Dan villages he visited, with Oberhofer saying: “Some people recognised their ancestors — it was very moving.”

Statements From the Museum and Family

The Rietberg Museum’s Oberhofer and Himmelheber’s son, Eberhard Fischer, both defended the value of the archive while acknowledging the colonial context, according to AFP. Ivory Coast is also awaiting the return of the Djidji Ayokwe “talking drum,” taken by French colonial troops in 1916; AFP said the French parliament approved its return in July.