THE HAGUE, Netherlands: Two Dutch museums are handing hundreds of cultural artefacts back to Indonesia and Sri Lanka — from a richly decorated cannon to precious metals and jewellery — that were taken, often by force, in the colonial era.
The government announced the planned restitution of 478 “cultural objects” on Thursday (Jul 6).
Some Western nations are returning looted artefacts and other objects as part of a reckoning with their often brutal colonial histories.
A Berlin museum announced in January it was ready to return hundreds of human skulls from the former German colony of East Africa.
In 2021, France said it was returning statues, royal thrones and sacred altars taken from the West African nation of Benin.
Last year, Belgium returned a gold-capped tooth belonging to the slain Congolese independence hero Patrice Lumumba.
“This is a historic moment. It is the first time that, based on the advice of the Advisory Committee on the Return of Cultural Objects from Colonial Context, we are returning objects that should never have been in the Netherlands,” said State Secretary for Culture and Media Gunay Uslu.
The committee was set up in 2022 to assess requests by countries for restitution of artefacts in state museums. It is considering more restitution requests from Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Nigeria.
Source: CNA
