THE NEW YORK TIMES
By Dionne Searcey and Farah Nayeri
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| A Bamoun statue from Cameroon, left, and a 2018 painting, “Redresseurs,” from a Cuban art collective The Merger, at the new Museum of Black Civilizations in Dakar. It retraces cultural contributions of Africa up to present time. |
DAKAR, Senegal — The 19th-century sword rests in a glass case alongside a frail Quran in a spacious gallery where scrolls hang from the wall and soft religious chanting is piped in. The saber’s etched copper handle is shaped like a swan’s beak, with a ring at the end. Its leather sheath rests nearby. The sword belonged to Omar Saidou Tall, a prominent Muslim spiritual leader in the 1800s in what is now modern-day Senegal. Like most artifacts from France’s African colonies, it wound up in a French museum. But the sword is now back in Senegal — and the Senegalese would like to keep it here. It is one of the most important pieces on display at Senegal’s new Museum of Black Civilizations, which has opened its doors amid a heated discussion about Africa reclaiming art that was looted during the colonial era. [
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A sword that belonged to Omar Saidou Tall, a prominent Muslim spiritual leader in the 1800s, at the new Museum of Black Civilizations.
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