Côte d'Ivoire showcases art returned from German researcher’s collection

Côte d'Ivoire has put on public display a collection of artworks and cultural objects returned from Germany, decades after they were gathered by German ethnologist Hans Himmelheber during research trips across the country.

Between the 1930s and the 1970s, Himmelheber travelled extensively in Côte d'Ivoire, acquiring ritual and everyday objects from local artists while documenting communities through photographs and film.

Nearly 100 artefacts, along with around 15,000 photographs and a dozen films, have now been returned to their country of origin.

The collection features pieces from the Senufo, Dan, Baoule and Guro peoples and is being exhibited in the cities of Abidjan and Man.

Learning history

Schoolchildren have been among the visitors crowding around masks, finely carved turtles and ceremonial spoons, many of which were previously displayed at Zurich’s Rietberg Museum.

The exhibition, hosted at the Adama Toungara Museum in Abidjan, runs until March 8 and retraces Himmelheber’s journeys.

It presents 24 of the 107 returned objects alongside thousands of digitised photographs and films shot by the researcher, who died in 2003. Highlights include a “wabele” hood mask and a Dan runner’s mask with delicate feminine features.

The display comes as museums and collectors in Europe and the United States face growing pressure to return cultural artefacts taken from former colonies.

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.

Experts say that while restitutions of African cultural heritage are increasing, such returns remain rare.

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

Reviving memory

In 2025, Switzerland and Côte d'Ivoire signed an agreement on the return of cultural assets. The deal also funded research projects and workshops linked to the restitution.

As part of the initiative, Himmelheber’s photographs and films were screened in 16 Dan villages he frequently visited.

“Some people recognised their ancestors — it was very moving,” Oberhofer said.

Himmelheber was known for carefully documenting 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 research also highlighted ornate loom pulleys and pottery, challenging the idea that African art is “limited to masks and figures”, Oberhofer added.

Côte d'Ivoire is now awaiting the return of the Djidji Ayokwe “talking drum”, taken by French colonial troops in 1916, after its restitution was approved by the French parliament in July.