Screening
February 26 | 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Screening and discussion of Mati Diop’s documentary Dahomey
Free activity | Space is limited, reservation required
Join us for the screening of documentary Dahomey, presented in collaboration with the International Festival of Films on Art (FIFA) and the Round Table on Black History Month.
The screening will be followed by a discussion moderated by Michael P. Farkas on restitution in the museum world, with Jonathan Lainey, Indigenous curator at the McCord Stewart Museum, and Moridja Kitenge Banza, visual artist.
Dahomey
November 2021. Twenty-six royal treasures from Dahomey are about to leave Paris and be repatriated to their homeland in present-day Benin. Along with several thousand others, these works were looted when French colonial troops invaded in 1892. But what does the return of these ancestors mean for a country that has had to build itself without them and come to terms with their absence? As the objects’ spirit is set free, debate rages among students at the University of Abomey-Calavi.
Benin, France, Senegal | 2024 | 68 min | French, Fon, English | Subtitles: French
Information
- Free activity, in English and French, presented on Wednesday, February 26, 2025, from 6 to 8 p.m.
Space is limited, reservation required - Duration: 2 hours
- Location: J. Armand Bombardier Theatre at the McCord Stewart Museum
Is the activity you’re interested in fully booked? Show up 15 minutes early to get on the waitlist. Places may become available before the start of the activity.
Speakers
Michael P. Farkas
Michael P. Farkas is very passionate about Black history. He spends most of his time working with his community to come up with ideas and start projects to help make the world a better place. He is the president of the non-profit organization of the Table ronde on Black History Month.
Jonathan Lainey
Jonathan Lainey joined the Museum in 2020. He studied anthropology and Indigenous studies and holds a master’s degree in history from Université Laval. His research interests include the social, political and cultural history of the Indigenous Peoples of Quebec and Canada as well as the history of objects and collections over time, particularly wampum belts. He has served as Curator, First Peoples, at the Canadian Museum of History in Gatineau as well as Archivist, Indigenous Archives, at Library and Archives Canada.
He has published two books, helped develop exhibitions, and written numerous articles, publications and research reports. He is also a sought-after speaker who has appeared not only in Canada, but also in the Netherlands, Japan and Australia at international conferences.
Moridja Kitenge Banza
Moridja Kitenge Banza, a Canadian artist of Congolese origin born in 1980 in Kinshasa, is a graduate of the Académie des Beaux-Arts de Kinshasa, the École des Beaux-Arts de Nantes and the Université de La Rochelle.
Winner of the 1st Prix DAK’ART 2010 and a Prix Sobey in 2020, his work has been presented at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal, AGO and the Phi Foundation.
His work can be found in major Canadian collections, including the MBAM, MACM and MNBAQ.
In collaboration with
