Molawa VIII

An illustration of the Negro of BanyolesThe Negro of Banyoles (; or ) was the taxidermied body of a Southern African man that was displayed for more than 80 years at the Darder Museum in Banyoles, Catalonia, Spain. Originally preserved by French taxidermists in the nineteenth century and exhibited as a natural history specimen, the display later became the subject of an international controversy over the public exhibition of human remains. Following years of debate involving activists, African governments, the United Nations, and UNESCO, the remains were removed from display in 1997 and repatriated to Botswana in 2000 for burial.

Identity and description

The man who became known as the Negro of Banyoles was estimated to have been about 27 years old when he died, based on an analysis of his teeth. He was originally identified as a member of the San people. Exhibition and display In 1830, French natural history collectors and taxidermists Jules Verreaux and Édouard Verreaux obtained the remains in southern Africa and preserved them using taxidermy techniques. Later examinations found that the body had been extensively altered for exhibition. A wooden spine and shoulder supports were added, along with artificial eyes, hair, and genitals. The figure was also stuffed with materials including newspaper, and arsenic was used during the preservation process.

The brothers exhibited the remains in France, where they were displayed in various shops during the nineteenth century. Around 1886, Catalan veterinary surgeon and natural history collector Francesc Darder purchased the exhibit in Paris and added it to his collection. After unsuccessful attempts to profit from the display, he moved it to Barcelona. When Darder founded the Darder Museum in Banyoles, Catalonia, in 1916, the remains became part of the museum's collection.

For more than 80 years, from 1916 to 1997, the man was displayed at the Darder Museum wearing a loincloth, feathered headdress, and carrying a spear. The exhibit became one of the museum's best-known attractions. According to later accounts, museum staff periodically applied shoe polish to maintain his appearance. His campaign attracted widespread media attention and sparked debate about the public display of human remains. While some commentators described the exhibit as a relic of colonialism, many residents of Banyoles and the surrounding area opposed its removal. After more than 80 years in the museum, some viewed the Negro of Banyoles as part of the local community. He was buried the following day at Tsholofelo Park in Gaborone, and his gravesite was later declared a national monument.

According to historian Jeff Ramsay, the repatriation was intended as an act of restitution and reconciliation that would symbolically return an African man to his homeland after nearly 170 years of exhibition in Europe. However, the process quickly became controversial. Many Batswana had expected the complete preserved body that had been displayed in Spain for more than a century. According to Ramsay, what arrived was not a body but a skull and a small number of bones contained in an unvarnished wooden box. The preserved skin, soft tissue, and ethnographic objects that had accompanied the display in Spain were not returned, and Spanish representatives provided no public explanation for their absence. Legacy The Darder Museum currently avoids any references to the controversy of the . The only record of the San in the museum is a silent video with black and white images on a small plasma screen. The video allows people to see the San as he was displayed until his removal.

Several books have dealt with the controversy, most notably (El Negro and me) by Frank Westerman, which shows that naturalist Georges Cuvier knew about the man.