>> u.s. and french presidents held their first meeting since their mysterious diplomatic dispute in years. joe biden acknowledge that the handling was clumsy. >> we have no more decent ally or loyal than france. they have been with us since the beginning. and from and we became a

country. what we did was clumsy. it was not done with a lot of grace. i was under the impression that. i want to make it clear that france is an extremely valuable partner. >> joe biden has met the head of the roman catholic church at the vatican. the white house says he committed the pope's efforts to fight the climate crisis. in an effort to end the pandemic. afghanistan's economy is on the brink of collapse and the u.n. he monetary and chief is calling on the world's most powerful countries to do something about it during this weekends g20 summit. >> putting cash in the country is not putting it in the hands of the taliban let us be clear about that. putting cash in means nurses can be paid. trainers can operate. women running small businesses can do that.

>> the fda has approved the pfizer vaccine for children as young as five. trials began in july. the drive to vaccinate children was due to the delta variant and reopening of schools. u.s. is threatening greater checks on all vessels if france goes ahead with a series up or most sanctions this is linked to a fishing agreement. there threatening sanctions if the u.k. doesn't grant more licenses to french fishermen. if those actions are and lamented, it would put the eu in breach of a trade agreement. those are the headlines. the news continues here on inside story and you can catch up on our website.

♪ >> showed stolen african art be returned? three institutions in the u.k. and france are giving back artifacts. some say they should repaint -- remain in european newseum's. who is right? this is inside story. ♪ >> hello and welcome to the program. european institutions like the british museum and the louvre art home to some of the most finest art had some of the treasures on display were stolen during colonial times. experts believe that 90 percent of african cultural artifacts were taken from the continent.

this week, three european institutions gave back items stolen one century ago from niger and benin. campaigners fought to return them hope it is just the start. others believe they should remain in europe. we will bring in our guests in a moment. this report from nigeria's capital. reporter: after nearly 120 five years in foreign lands, this stolen bronze statue depicting the head of king nigeria's ascension to the benin kingdom is on its way home. for more than one century, its beauty and craft was looked at and appreciated by a privileged few. it has taken campaigners us to what it was looted and decades to get this object of immense significance. on one stay, cambridge became the first institution to return it. >> we are all thrilled at seeing this day arrived. when the object is returning

home. we are all sleep -- also painfully aware of its -- to its owners from its presence and we offer our heartfelt apologies for this. >> also in paris, the president led a ceremony to return some pieces of artifacts stolen from the former colony of benin in 1892. >> france had to act given the fact that 95% of the african material heritage is said to be outside of africa. young people need to take possession of their history to better build their future. there is no reason to condemn the african youth to be denied access to its own history. >> acts -- experts say these events are significant >> there is some potential now through these actions for some truth telling. for even some reconciliation and returns. the significance of this really

relates to their iconic status that is underlying the significance of african art. >> activists are also aware that getting all the artifacts that could take a long time. >> the museum in paris holds 70,000 african artifacts. along with the british museum that has tens of thousands more. while campaigners are happy with this progress, they are less hopeful with others. in particular, they worry about the looted items in the hands of private collectors. >> we want to enable nigeria, particularly, these people to see what belongs to them and objects of our history, cultural importance. >> the campaign to return the bronzes and thousands of other items from the colonization of

africa would take a long time. it will begin a process that could see the return of most of africa's stolen historic and cultural artifacts. >> many countries are campaigning to get their stolen artifacts back. mexico showcased 1500 indigenous pieces that were in european museums. it has recovered 5700 items since the 18. his ems in canada have started returning indigenous art including pre-needed hoods made in the 1850's. -- cree. items have been repatriated to australia from overseas. needs one has brought back the remains of 800 indigenous people after it created a repatriation item to return stolen native heritage. india is still battling to bring back historical artifacts stolen during the colonial rule and independence in 1947.

let us bring in our guests. in cambridge, u.k. master of jesus college at cambridge university. in new jersey, professor of african and african diaspora art history at princeton in london, ed cross, curator and calloused and owner of the fine art. thank you for being with us on inside story. let me start with you. jesus college has become the first institution in the u.k. to routine a benin bronze. can you talk to our audience about how significant a step that was and what it means to you and your colleagues? >> thank you. i think we're the first institution in the world to return bronze. it was very significant. this began in 2016 lent some

students noticed that the clock at the bottom what that was residing in the hall of jesus. in 20 19, we had a party set up to have historical, and legal framework by which they could come to the college in 1905 then in october of 2019, it was the first item on the agenda for a society meeting. it was a meeting of the whole fellowship. the fellow who has come last into the college and to somebody who has been there the longest. it was only now that this decision that frankly, it was wrong that we had it. it was the right thing to do to get it back to its original owners. it was very emotional. i think that the fellowship, i am proud of the college. it is when good people get in a room and they make a good decision and good things happen. mohammed: from your vantage point, how much of a milestone

are these handovers? guest: it is quite tremendous. it is a wonderful moment. precisely because apart from the specific significance of the return of this artifact from jesus college, it sets a clear and direct precedent for the broader question of the return of these artifacts that were looted and stolen in 1897. if you saw the news coming out of nigeria in the past two days, you would see how how important this occasion is for the bending people, for nigerians, africans on the continent and the diaspora. precisely because it does begin

the process of amending the criminal act that were perpetrated by colonial powers. by creating an looting treasures from various parts of the continent the benin case of course, is the most well documented and perhaps, the most expensive of these acts of looting but there are several borders around the continent in several places. this is a very important moment i am hoping that it is only just the beginning. mohammed: from your perspective, do you believe this is the beginning of a process that could see the return of many more stolen artifacts? guest: yes. i am obviously, not a museum. far from being a museum official

but i absolutely believe that. i think it is really not tenable in my own opinion. to retain these artifacts. particularly, most of them are in that category. artifacts that have extremely dubious, or acquired in extreme he dubious ways. orcs stolen in fact. it is interesting to see how the dial has shifted on this over the last -- i have been in contemporary african art promoting it for 20 odd years as an english person. i have seen that under standing of what happened in the colonial period. filtering through to more and more people. it is now very, very compelling

that these works are return. it is a matter, you can talk about spiritual things but it is extremely important for contemporary african artists that some of these works, these works are where they should be. i also believe that people talk about sharing works and things like that. i believe the ownership personally, should revert to the original owners. i also think there is a case for agreements to be made so that works can be displayed again for periods of time in the institutions that are have safeguarded these works over the years. allowing more and more people to see them internationally. i believe the principal ownership and the principal residency if you like, of these works should be back in the countries from which they were taken.

mohammed: i saw you reacting to what some of he said there. when it comes to the possibility of returning looted works, will this be more of a case of artworks actually being returned or are we talking about more arrangements going forward where artwork is shared or lent? guest: i think it will be a mix. i think it should be the choice of, particularly with bending items -- bending -- benin. it should be a choice of nigerian benin. once you notice something is wrong and you take the moral imperative, it is a moral imperative to do the right thing. it has to be returned with no caveats. i think maybe i reacted because of the use of the word safeguarding. anyway, they are in the possession of places.

i do think he is right in terms of the simplest thing and in a way, it is a profound thing they did because only because we are the first to do it. the simple act of doing a legal transfer is really straightforward. store the objects that you have and that make a transfer over to the nigerian government. in nigerian benin, they're building a museum and their plan for other museums as well. using m's are very mature in the framework -- museums are very mature in the framework across the world and we can revel and see each other's artwork. that is absolutely wonderful. at the jesus college, we have an exhibition here right we do this all -- exhibition here. we do this all the time in a mature way.

the fundamental thing is that the ownership is uncontestable. i agree it was something ed was hinting at that it is important for young people to be rooted in their past and to see their past. in the u.k., cambridge, london, we do that all the time. we want young people to come in and see their past. mohammed: we have been talking a lot about the importance of artifacts thing return. i want to take a step back and think about the impact of these artifacts being taken in the first place. it is estimated that up to 95% of cultural objects from africa are housed outside the african continent where it what does it mean for society to lose so much of the cultural legacy? how devastating is that? guest: the best way to respond to that is to imagine if all the so-called great resumes of europe where -- were emptied of

their collections. how to even to begin to imagine the narrative, the stories, the mythologies that have been constructed around this idea of western civilization. they are taking to the museums to tell them the story of western civilization, of europe's history through the artworks and cultural artifacts that are lodged in these museums. then you look at what happened with the african continent. the vast systematic exportation of its cultural heritage. by the way, one should pay mind to the other act of expropriation which is the active slavery and what that did to the continent. in terms of taking away some of

its best people and minds, bodies, away from the continent and how that depressed a society and culture across the board. if you think of the equivalents of that, which by the way it makes a society part of how a society imagines itself. how it teaches its young and how it constructs its presence and -- present and future. without the cultural resources that had been there in the first instance as part of how these societies are valid related with other people. these are incredible cultural archives. it is equivalent to imagining that you didn't have your great libraries and museums and cultural centers. that is part of what happened to

the african continent. the return of these objects sometimes to their original sites, sometimes to institutions because africa has also evolved over these decades, establishing new forms of sociality's and cultural institutions. the return of these objects and reincorporation of them into the new social environments and cultural institutions that africans are more than willing to establish in addition to the ones that they already have in existence that, it would mean a lot in terms of social reaffirmation, cultural reaffirmation of this subjectivity of the african people and especially in this present age of the wise asian. -- globalization. mohammed: you were talking before about how much attitudes have shifted around this

particular subject matter. why has it taken this long to get to this moment? guest: i think there has been a kind of denial among europeans about the slave trade and colonialism. there has certainly been a denial in the u.k. about the impact of our empire and our colonial history. i put it down into denial, really. it has been chipped away at by sort of academics and activists, writers, and intellectuals over the years. in the last 20 years, with was once a range view is now really right in the center. it doesn't mean to say that everybody subscribes to it. there are many people who unfortunately, are in denial. it cannot be avoided anymore.

in totality. yes, i think it is in amnesia problem. we -- things have moved on. it is good to see that. we have got a long way to go. over the last 20 years or so that i have been involved in this, it is changed dramatically and not to mention the growth of contemporary african art which in some ways, is a reaction. in some ways, i would posit that some of it was a kind of reaction away, ironically from traditional african art. that is what the world thought about when you talked about african art was all about traditional african art. there is a whole new world of contemporary african art. particularly, over the last 10 years as i see it, it is really

engaging with the heritage and the incredible richness of the archive that is there. i think about the artists behind these and dedicating their work. his house is completely full of traditional african art. he has created his own kind of museum and it is where he lives. he feeds off this incredible richness. there are many artists like that. i am delighted to see that. i think the return of these things will kind of be a hugely significant thing one happens. i really do believe it will. mohammed: returning artworks and artifacts is one issue. a separate issue is presenting

these artifacts that were many in these institutions in the west. will we start seeing more museums, more arts institutions start labeling collections more truthfully? will they start presenting more context about the violent looted past associated with these artworks and artifacts? there is -- guest: there is a shift towards that. is ems, gallery spaces, houses, universities. they all have one shared characteristic and is that they are places of learning. moving forward, been able to research and help these people. it is not denying what happened in the past. it is the truth of the subject. there is more information about it or this is the context for. i don't think there is anything wrong with that. i think more people are beginning to do that which is a good thing.

you keep referring to this as artwork. yes, they are very beautiful but one thing we have realized through this is that these are in spiritual objects. the one we have here jesus is emblematic and more -- shows a queen mother from the royal ancestral family of benin. it is an heirloom. it is a memorial object. most of them are. they have a different spiritual meaning when different people look at them. i think that bringing them back brings them back to life. the correct eyes are looking at them. i think that is why it is important to make that case. we keep talking about this artwork but they are much more than that. mohammed: are artists and campaigners who have worked so hard to get to this point, as

far as putting pressure on museums, negotiating with governments. are they happy with the progress made thus far? what happens next? guest: yes, happy. very small progress is beginning to happen. make no mistake about it. we are only just getting. the scholars, activists, artists, policy makers that are locked in on this question. there is absolutely no going back. i -- as i say this, i have in mind american institutions that have largely played the ostrich in this whole affair. all the news that we are getting these days of restitution or african artifact is coming from

europe. you wonder what americans are doing. to be frank, that is the next target in terms of insisting they begin to tell us what they plan to do about these artifacts that are also in their collections and their museums. previously, we heard that colonization was a european affair in terms of africa. this is a european problem but, this is so nonsensical. it is a crazy argument to make. germany did not loot benin artifacts. right? they acquire them the same way that american institutions acquire them from all kinds of sources but germany is now returning more than 1000 objects that are in its collections. we are all waiting and asking what these other museums across the planet, especially in the

u.s. are going to do about the stuff they are keeping. we will not keep quiet about it. it is a new generation of scholars and activists that are clear about addressing these injustices of history. it is more than 100 years now and it is about time to begin to take them to task. it is no longer business as usual. mohammed: we have run out of time. we believe the conversation there. thank you to all of our guests. thank you for watching. you can see the program again any time by visiting our website and for further discussion, go to our facebook page. you can join the conversation on twitter. from the in the hole team, goodbye for now. -- whole, ♪

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♪ >> just walking in this garden of the hill and down the hill, you don't need to go to a gym. come to the garden. >> never being on a