The Saliou Traoré journalism prize, awarded each year by Casa África and the EFE news agency, has gone to the team of Planeta Futuro, a supplement of El País, for their investigation into the plundering of African art during colonisation and the current demands for restitution. The jury recognised the depth and human approach of the series Viaje a los orígenes africanos de los objetos robados (Journey to the African origins of stolen objects), published in March 2024.
The work, coordinated by Ana Carbajosa, brings together nine journalists who travelled around several African countries to trace the fate of pieces taken from temples, palaces and villages, now exhibited in European and American museums. The project offers a choral view of the cultural consequences of that plundering and the awakening of an African generation determined to recover its heritage.
During the event held in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, the director of Casa África, José Segura, stressed that the report “opens a necessary debate on reparation and the right of African peoples to tell their own story”. For his part, the president of EFE, Miguel Ángel Oliver, stressed the importance of “revising Western narratives and giving space to African voices in the construction of their collective memory”.
The Saliou Traoré Prize, named after the veteran Senegalese correspondent for EFE who died in 2018, will be awarded in 2019 for the best work in Spanish on Africa. With a prize of 5,000 euros and a sculpture by the artist María de Frutos, it is supported by the Government of the Canary Islands and the European COMPASS programme.
This year's edition brought together African diplomatic representatives and Spanish authorities, who coincided in highlighting the role of journalism as a bridge between continents. In Segura's words, the award-winning research “reminds us that returning what has been plundered not only repairs the past, but also dignifies the future shared between Africa and Europe”.
Source: Casa África; canarias7.es