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Ancient Statue Returns to Türkiye 65 Years Later

FILE PHOTO: People enjoy the sunset in Ankara, Türkiye January 4, 2022. REUTERS/Cagla Gurdogan/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: People enjoy the sunset in Ankara, Türkiye January 4, 2022. REUTERS/Cagla Gurdogan/File Photo
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Ancient Statue Returns to Türkiye 65 Years Later

FILE PHOTO: People enjoy the sunset in Ankara, Türkiye January 4, 2022. REUTERS/Cagla Gurdogan/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: People enjoy the sunset in Ankara, Türkiye January 4, 2022. REUTERS/Cagla Gurdogan/File Photo

Türkiye has repatriated an ancient statue believed to depict Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius from the United States as part of efforts to recover antiquities illegally removed from the country, the government announced on Saturday.

The bronze statue, smuggled from the ancient city of Boubon -- now the province of Burdur in southwest Türkiye -- in the 1960s, was returned to Türkiye after 65 years, according to Turkish officials.

"It was a long struggle. We were right, we were determined, we were patient, and we won," AFP quoted Culture and Tourism Minister Mehmet Ersoy as saying.

"We brought the 'Philosopher Emperor' Marcus Aurelius back to the land where he belongs," he added.

This unique artifact, once exhibited in the United States, was repatriated to Türkiye based on scientific analyses, archival documents and witness statements, added the minister.

"Through the combined power of diplomacy, law, and science, the process we conducted with the New York Manhattan District Attorney's Office and the US Homeland Security Investigations Unit is more than just a repatriation; it is a historical achievement," Ersoy said.

"Marcus Aurelius's return to our country is a concrete result of our years-long pursuit of justice."

The headless statue had been on display at the Cleveland Museum of Art from April to July, before its return to Türkiye.

Ersoy said Türkiye was determined to protect all its cultural heritage that has been smuggled out.

"We will soon present the Philosopher Emperor to the people of (Türkiye's capital) Ankara in a surprise exhibition," he announced.

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Culture

Ukraine's 'Origami Deer' Sculpture Rescued from Frontline Tours Europe

Ukrainian artist Zhanna Kadyrova (R) and Ukrainian curator of the 'Security Guarantees' project Leonid Marushchak pose in front of the 'Origami Deer' sculpture in Prague on March 12, 2026. (Photo by Michal Cizek / AFP)
Ukrainian artist Zhanna Kadyrova (R) and Ukrainian curator of the 'Security Guarantees' project Leonid Marushchak pose in front of the 'Origami Deer' sculpture in Prague on March 12, 2026. (Photo by Michal Cizek / AFP)
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Ukraine's 'Origami Deer' Sculpture Rescued from Frontline Tours Europe

Ukrainian artist Zhanna Kadyrova (R) and Ukrainian curator of the 'Security Guarantees' project Leonid Marushchak pose in front of the 'Origami Deer' sculpture in Prague on March 12, 2026. (Photo by Michal Cizek / AFP)
Ukrainian artist Zhanna Kadyrova (R) and Ukrainian curator of the 'Security Guarantees' project Leonid Marushchak pose in front of the 'Origami Deer' sculpture in Prague on March 12, 2026. (Photo by Michal Cizek / AFP)

An "Origami Deer" statue rescued from a Ukrainian city destroyed and occupied by Moscow's army is touring six European countries before featuring at the 61st Venice Biennale, which has sparked outrage over the inclusion of Russian artists.

Ukrainian artist Zhanna Kadyrova created the concrete work with her colleague Denys Ruban in 2019 for a park in the eastern city of Pokrovsk to replace a Soviet-era military plane displayed there.

In 2024, Kadyrova and historian Leonid Marushchak removed the deer, shaped like a paper origami, as Russian troops closed in and then occupied Pokrovsk.

The sculpture will be the main feature of the Ukrainian pavilion, named Security Guarantees, at the Venice Biennale.

It will feature alongside Russian exhibits at the event that started in 1895 and comprises festivals, art and architecture exhibitions running from May 9 to November 22.

The decision to invite Russian artists, banned from the 2022 and 2024 editions after Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, has sparked international uproar with the European Union threatening to cut funding for the Biennale.

"It's very important for us to see how the entire world reacts to the situation, supporting us and opposing Russia's participation," Marushchak told AFP.

"If the Russians want to show their culture, they might as well organize a biennale in Pokrovsk which they have destroyed," he added.

En route to Venice, the deer has been exhibited in Warsaw, Vienna and Prague and will continue on to Berlin, Brussels and Paris.

Displaced from its pedestal, the deer symbolizes "millions of Ukrainians who have lost their home" and moved abroad, Kadyrova told AFP during a stopover in Prague.

The resemblance to paper origami refers to the Budapest Memorandum of 1994 which saw Ukraine yielding its nuclear arsenal to Russia in exchange for security guarantees that did not materialize.

"So it's no more than paper," Kadyrova said.

Marushchak has been evacuating works of art from eastern Ukraine since the war started.

He has saved scores of objects, often taking huge risk with his team, to protect them from looting or theft.

One of the most dramatic rescue operations involved a 700-year-old stone lion statue evacuated from a museum in Bakhmut in 2023, just before the Russian army took the city, as Marushchak's car was hit by a shell on the way out.

"Other evacuations were difficult in that we didn't succeed as much as we wanted because the front line was too close and the danger was too big," Marushchak told AFP.

The Venice Biennale typically attracts more than 600,000 visitors to pavilions set up by participating countries.

Kadyrova said the Ukrainian team was not planning any protest over Russia's participation as "it's up to politicians".

"But I hope that some community will gather to pressure the Biennale, pressure Italy, and I hope that it will not happen."

Culture

'Talking Drum' Looted by France in 1916 Back in Ivory Coast

A crate containing the Djidji Ayokwe drum, at the airport in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. (Photo by Issouf SANOGO / AFP)
A crate containing the Djidji Ayokwe drum, at the airport in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. (Photo by Issouf SANOGO / AFP)
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'Talking Drum' Looted by France in 1916 Back in Ivory Coast

A crate containing the Djidji Ayokwe drum, at the airport in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. (Photo by Issouf SANOGO / AFP)
A crate containing the Djidji Ayokwe drum, at the airport in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. (Photo by Issouf SANOGO / AFP)

The Djidji Ayokwe "talking drum", which was looted by French colonial troops in 1916 and taken to France, arrived back in Ivory Coast Friday, in the latest repatriation of stolen artifacts.

The wooden drum, more than three meters (10 feet) long and weighing 430 kilos (950 pounds), was used by the Ebrie tribe to transmit messages.

It was officially handed over on February 20 after France's parliament approved removing the artifact from the national museum collections to enable its return.

Ivory Coast had asked in late 2018 for the return of the Djidji Ayokwe among 148 works of art taken during the colonial period.

It arrived aboard a specially chartered plane at Ivory Coast's main city Abidjan and remained inside a huge wooden crate stamped "fragile", AFP journalists saw.

"It's an historic day and I feel deep emotion," Culture Minister Francoise Remarck said, welcoming its arrival at the airport, where the Ebrie community also sang and played drums.

"We are living a moment of justice and remembrance," the minister added.

French President Emmanuel Macron promised in 2021 to send the drum and other artifacts back home to the west African country.

It is one of hundreds of objects France is preparing to send back to Africa, with the efforts set to be accelerated by the passing of a new law to authorize mass repatriations.

"We are happy and relieved to know that this sacred piece of our culture is back on its native land," Aboussou Guy Georges Mobio, an Ebrie village chief, told AFP.

The drum will initially be held in a "safe space" to allow it to acclimatize, the culture minister said.

It is due to go on display at the Museum of Civilizations in Abidjan which has been specially renovated.

The "talking drum" was used by the Ebrie community to warn of danger, mobilize for war or call villagers to ceremonies.

It was seized by colonial authorities in 1916 before being shipped to France in 1929 and exhibited in Paris.

Senegal and Benin have also asked for the repatriation of their treasures.

In late 2020, the French parliament adopted a law providing for the permanent return to Benin of 26 artifacts from the royal treasures of Dahomey.

The return of cultural artifacts taken from ex-colonies in Africa and elsewhere has become a sensitive issue, with museums, institutions and collectors in Europe and the United States facing pressure to give them back.

Culture

Red Sea Fund Launches Second Round to Support Film Projects in Production Stage

File photo of the fifth day of the Red Sea International Film Festival - SPA
File photo of the fifth day of the Red Sea International Film Festival - SPA
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Red Sea Fund Launches Second Round to Support Film Projects in Production Stage

File photo of the fifth day of the Red Sea International Film Festival - SPA
File photo of the fifth day of the Red Sea International Film Festival - SPA

The Red Sea Fund, affiliated with the Red Sea Film Foundation, announced the opening of applications to support film projects in the production stage within the second round of this year’s support program, which will continue until March 21, as part of its efforts to enhance the cinema industry and empower innovators in the region, SPA reported.

The round aims to support promising cinematic voices from the Kingdom and the Arab world, as well as filmmakers from Africa and Asia, through financial grants that help complete film projects and present their creative narratives globally, with a special focus on projects ready to enter production and begin filming.