Djidji Ayôkwé : The Bidjan People Celebrate the Return of the Talking Drum

More than a century after being confiscated and exiled far from the Ébrié Lagoon, the Djidji Ayôkwé, the legendary talking drum, is finally preparing to return to its homeland amidst a surge of emotion and national pride.

On February 20, 2026, in Paris, a historic milestone was reached with the official signing of the restitution agreement between the French Minister of Culture and her Ivorian counterpart, sealing the return of this masterpiece of African heritage.

Long housed at the Quai Branly Museum, this drum, over three meters long, is not simply an art object, but a powerful instrument of traditional communication and a sacred emblem of the Bidjan people’s resistance to colonization.

To prepare for this exceptional event, the Atchan traditional chiefs have been working for several months to organize purification rites and ancestral ceremonies essential to « awaken » the spirit of the drum after decades of enforced silence.

This return is part of a broader movement to restitute looted cultural property, but here it takes on a unique spiritual dimension: for the elders, the Djidji Ayôkwé is the voice of the ancestors, once capable of warning villages of imminent dangers or summoning assemblies through complex coded languages.

The Ivorian government, in close collaboration with traditional authorities, plans to install the drum at the Museum of Civilizations of Côte d’Ivoire in Abidjan, in a space specially designed to respect its sacred nature while allowing the general public to rediscover this vestige of pre-colonial sovereignty.

This restitution marks a major diplomatic and cultural victory, symbolizing the repair of a historical wound and the strengthening of Ivorian national identity around its deepest roots.