Mwazulu Diyabanza is a Congolese activist who has been fined and jailed for entering museums and forcibly removing ‘pillaged’ African artefacts.
“Wherever the riches of our heritage and culture have been stolen,” says the 42-year-old, “we will intervene.” He is the leader of a pan-African movement called Yanka Nku (Unity, Dignity and Courage). He calls his method “active diplomacy”.
Last June, in between French lockdowns, Diyabanza and several others entered the Quai Branly museum in Paris, which has around 70,000 objects from sub-Saharan Africa. Shouting “We’re taking it home!”, they wrenched from its setting a 19th-century African funeral post that belonged to the Bari people of Chad. Police recovered the object and held Diyabanza in custody for three days. A judge fined him €1,000 for “attempted theft”.
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