Cultural heritage is safeguarded not only by recovering stolen works, but also by reconstructing their history, spotting suspicious movements on the market and training those tasked with protecting them.
It is on this front that Italy and African countries are strengthening cooperation against the illicit trafficking of cultural property, with a new professional training programme included in the Piano Mattei.
The initiative stems from a three-year agreement between Italy's National School for Cultural Heritage and Cultural Activities and the École du Patrimoine Africain (EPA), an institution based in Porto-Novo, in Benin, specialising in the conservation and promotion of African cultural heritage.
The first course began earlier this month and brings together professionals from nine French-speaking African countries. The Carabinieri Command for the Protection of Cultural Heritage (TPC) is also contributing to the activities, sharing its investigative expertise and the experience gained in international cooperation.
Provenance and digitisation to stop illicit trafficking
The programme aims to strengthen the technical skills of people working in museums and cultural institutions, with a particular focus on documenting collections, digitising inventories and researching the provenance of works, known as provenance research.
Reconstructing provenance means establishing where an object was located, who owned it and through which transactions it reached the market. Incomplete documents, unclear changes of ownership or exports lacking the necessary authorisations can help identify items that have been stolen or excavated clandestinely.
Traceability is also crucial in preventing artefacts originating from looting or from unstable areas entering private collections and international commercial circuits. Up-to-date inventories and shared digital archives can make it easier to recognise sought-after objects and provide the authorities with the information they need to launch investigations.
The course involves professionals from Algeria, Côte d'Ivoire, Gabon, Morocco, the Republic of the Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Senegal and Tunisia. The goal is to build lasting skills and relationships among operators, administrations and institutions on both continents.
From the Axum obelisk to the Benin Bronzes: the impact of restitutions
Cooperation on heritage protection takes place against a backdrop marked by looting, illegal exports and disputes over the restitution of works. A particularly significant case for relations between Italy and Africa is that of the Axum obelisk in Ethiopia.
The monument, a stele dating back around 1,700 years, was removed by Italian troops during the fascist occupation in 1937 and taken to Rome. After decades of requests and negotiations, Italy returned it to Ethiopia in 2005. The monument, transported in three large sections, was reassembled at its original site in 2008, with the involvement of UNESCO and Italian funding for the operation. It is an example of international cooperation that required not only a political agreement but also complex technical and logistical work.
Another emblematic case is that of the Benin Bronzes, now part of Nigeria's heritage. In 1897, during the British military expedition against the Kingdom of Benin, thousands of objects were looted from the royal palace and later dispersed into Western collections.
In 2022, Germany embarked on a restitution process of historic scope: the foundation overseeing Berlin's state museums transferred ownership of 512 objects from the Ethnological Museum collection to Nigeria, under a broader agreement that also covered other artefacts. Some of the works remained on temporary display in Berlin on loan, while ownership passed to Nigeria.
These cases show why the protection of cultural property requires different, complementary tools. Restitution addresses the claims of countries of origin, while prevention and documentary research can help identify removed works, trace their journeys and curb new trafficking. The historical episodes linked to colonial plunder, however, do not automatically coincide with contemporary offences: each case calls for a specific documentary and legal reconstruction.
The role of the Art Carabinieri and international cooperation
Italy's experience in tackling crimes against cultural heritage also rests on the work of the Carabinieri Command for the Protection of Cultural Heritage, set up in 1969. This specialised unit conducts investigations into thefts, illegal excavations, unlawful exports and the sale of works of illicit origin, also by working with judicial authorities and foreign police forces.
International cooperation is already a tangible tool in recovery operations. In 2022, for instance, the TPC Carabinieri worked with the Manhattan District Attorney's Office and the US agency Homeland Security Investigations to recover Italian archaeological artefacts that had reached the United States via international trafficking networks. The operation led to the return of 58 objects, including works from the Etruscan, Roman and Magna Graecia periods.
The guiding principle behind these activities also applies to collaboration with African countries: sharing information, documentation and expertise can facilitate the identification of items, support investigations and make recovery and restitution procedures more effective.
At international level, a key point of reference is the 1970 UNESCO Convention, which commits states to combat the illicit import, export and transfer of cultural property and promotes cooperation for their recovery. The Convention also encourages preventive tools such as national inventories, export certificates and controls on the trade in works.
Piano Mattei, culture and partnerships between the two continents
The new training path is part of the cultural cooperation promoted by Italy as part of thePiano Mattei for Africa. The Directorate-General for European and International Affairs of the Ministry of Culture is supporting the programme, which aims to create opportunities for training, professional exchange and collaboration between institutions.
For Culture Minister Alessandro Giuli, the fight against illicit trafficking is a shared responsibility that calls for highly qualified skills and cooperation between institutions. He stressed that the agreement is based on reciprocity, the exchange of knowledge and respect for cultural identities.
The goal is to build a partnership that does not simply transfer know-how from Europe to Africa but fosters ongoing collaboration between professionals. The protection of collections, the conservation of artefacts and the reconstruction of their provenance thus become part of a common strategy, in which safeguarding cultural heritage is also a matter of historical memory, identity and the rights of communities.