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In this article, I propose the possibility of alternative ways of narrating African histories through art objects as allusive openings inciting a change in Western ways of perceiving the African continent. Based on my experience of visiting the Benin pavilion at the Venice Biennale 2024, I will explore the role of artistic ways of alluding to Benin’s past and present by way of seemingly cancelling its colonial past through its topographical displacement to the historic Kingdom of Dahomey, a West African kingdom which existed between 1600 and 1904 within the territory of the present-day Republic of Benin. The artists’ conflation of Benin with Dahomey will be read as a historical and topographical displacement, which the artworks displayed in the Benin pavilion used as a background for artistic projections of the future, envisioning the necessity of empowering women by way of alluding to the Yoruba tradition of Gèlèdè as a dialogical space of rematriation. In this article, I treat the artistic allusive history as a necessary supplement to official histories, which, along with traditional museal practices, constitute what Arjun Appadurai calls “testaments of fixity” – a category which may be held responsible for demoting Africa to the provinces of anthropological and development studies. The return of cultural artefacts looted by colonisers to Benin, alluded to in the exhibition, will be read in the light of Graham Harman’s notion of “allure” as an illusion of the possibility of a return to the once lost state of completeness. This impossibility will be brought in through the exhibition’s allusion to the ecological threat brought to Benin by traffickers of petrol from Nigeria. The article also brings in a brief analysis of two recent films which I find significant for broadening its perspective: Gina Prince-Bythewood’s The Woman King (2022) and Mati Diop’s Dahomey (2024).

The elections that took place in 2016 in Benin are very significant in defining the new framework of the French-African relations per se. The so-called candidate of Françafrique, Lionel Zinsou, lost the elections mainly because he promoted during the electoral campaign a vision still devoted to maintaining close connections with the former colonial power, France. On the other side, Patrice Talon fiercely advocated for a new and strong position both in what regards the domestic affairs as well as externally, portraying himself as «le candidat de la rupture». In the end, this way of positioning during the electoral campaign brought him the victory in elections, besides France’s support towards the other candidate. Taking into consideration all these elements, the main purpose of the paper is that of analysing the impact of the 2016 elections ‘result on redefining and maybe even ending the French-African relations, long time known as Françafrique. In this approach, the analysis will mainly focus on the electoral campaign itself and especially on the way in which the colonial past and the reference to France have been used by the candidates as means of winning votes from the electorate and to positioning to one another during that period of time.

[Presenter] This is official. Beninese Justice Angelo Houssou left his country and sought refuge in the United States of America. Justice Houessou was involved in a case against a Beninese businessman, Patrice Talon, who is accused of attempting to poison President Boni Yayi. [Presenter] That is the lawyer of Justice Angelo Houssou who has asked for asylum in the United States. He says he [Houssou] was afraid for his security since his no-case ruling in the Patrice Talon affair. The authorities deny that they have exerted any pressure on the justice and explain that he [Houssou] would not have left Benin had he been effectively placed under any surveillance. According to the minister of justice and keeper of the seals, Valentin Djenontin, it was not by coincidence that his flight occurred at a time when a French court is expected to make a ruling on the extradition of Patrice Talon to Benin in the next few days.