Divergences de récits et zones d’ombre autour du tambour ivoirien dit djidji ayôkwe

Abstract

Through the case of an Ivorian slit drum from the French national collections promised for restitution, the article questions the way in which the story of a so-called “ill-gotten” artifact can be presented to a general audience, and also how it can be linked to the concept of the Rashōmon effect. The facts, but also the questions, emerging from the author’s iconographic and bibliographic analysis tend to demonstrate the complexity of these stories concerning the life of objects that it is sometimes tempting to simplify.

Keywords

• Restitutions
• Tchaman
• Drums
• war
• prophetism
• colonization