Current:Home > InvestThe Dutch are returning looted artifacts to Indonesia and Sri Lanka. Does it matter? -FinTechWorld
The Dutch are returning looted artifacts to Indonesia and Sri Lanka. Does it matter?
View
Date:2025-04-12 10:51:26
MANILA, Philippines — Hundreds of priceless, cultural artifacts looted during the Dutch colonization of Indonesia and Sri Lanka are finally on their way home.
In a ceremony Monday at the Museum Volkenkunde in Dutch city of Leiden, 478 cultural objects were handed over to representatives from their home countries hundreds of years after they were taken — sometimes by force.
The items to be sent back to Indonesia include, among others, ancient temple carvings from Java, a traditional Balinese dagger, and jewels from Lombok, Indonesia, taken by Dutch troops following the 1894 massacre of hundreds of local residents on the island.
"We are really delighted. This is a very historic moment for both us, Indonesia, and the Netherlands. And the relationship between the two," said Hilmar Farid, Indonesia's Ministry of Culture director general of cultural heritage, reported the AP. "But I think what we have achieved so far is also a very significant contribution to the global debate about returning of colonial objects."
Added Dewi van de Weerd, the Dutch ambassador for international cooperation over Twitter: "What has been taken, will have to go back, unconditionally."
The artifacts are the first to be returned since the Dutch set up a committee in 2022 to field requests from countries wanting their artifacts returned. However, the Netherlands and Indonesia have had an agreement since 1975 on the restitution of cultural heritage taken during the Dutch colonial period.
"We consider these objects as our missing items in our historical narrative and of course they play different roles symbolically, culturally," Farid said, noting that their return means Indonesia can "reintegrate them into their cultural contexts. And that is, of course, of symbolic importance to us."
Still, while the return of the cultural objects is "great news," just sending them back is not enough, Citra Sasmita, an Indonesian visual artists who resides on Bali, said.
"It's about the mentality, of course," Sasmita told NPR, recounting the first time she went to the Tropen Museum in Amsterdam and became quite shocked and sad at the depictions of her people. "Their white supremacy mentality portrayed Indonesians as uncivilized people. They glorified their cannon... for me, it's important also to counter the cannon."
Even though the Portuguese were the first Europeans to colonize Indonesia, the Southeast Asian archipelago nation of more than 18,000 islands was colonized by the Dutch East India Company in the 1600s. Indonesia passed on to Dutch government control in 1796 and did not achieve independence until 1945 — nearly 350 years later.
Sasmita said now Indonesia has a responsibility to maintain these returned artifacts so that all Indonesians can learn from them. This means building better museum infrastructure and learning how to better preserve antique objects.
"We need to be more careful with these objects," she said.
The return of the artifacts to Indonesia and Sri Lanka is the latest in a move by Western Powers to repatriate items they plundered during colonial times. Just this year, a Berlin museum announced it would return hundreds of human skulls to East Africa, one of their former colonies, and several artifacts were repatriated to Cambodia from the United States.
veryGood! (57114)
Related
- Working Well: When holidays present rude customers, taking breaks and the high road preserve peace
- Women's Elite Eight: 'Swatkins' and Portland's screwy 3-point lines among winners, losers
- Watch: Alligator marches down golf course on Florida golf course as mating season nears
- Chance Perdomo, Gen V and Chilling Adventures of Sabrina actor, dies in motorcycle accident at 27
- North Carolina justices rule for restaurants in COVID
- Billie Eilish Reacts to Backlash After Comments About Artists Releasing Wasteful Vinyls
- At least 7 minors, aged 12 to 17, injured after downtown Indianapolis shooting
- Jennifer Garner mourns death of father William John Garner in emotional tribute
- Intellectuals vs. The Internet
- Jazz GM Justin Zanik to receive kidney transplant to treat polycystic kidney disease
Ranking
- Most popular books of the week: See what topped USA TODAY's bestselling books list
- 'Completely traumatized': Angie Harmon says Instacart driver shot and killed her dog
- Archaeological site discovered within the boundaries of Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico
- Dear Daughter: Celebrity Dads Share Their Hopes for the Next Generation of Women
- US wholesale inflation accelerated in November in sign that some price pressures remain elevated
- I Shop Every Single SKIMS Drop, Here Are the Styles I Think Will Sell Out This Month
- Kansas GOP lawmakers revive a plan to stop giving voters 3 extra days to return mail ballots
- Bird flu has hit U.S. dairy cattle for the first time. Here's what it means for milk supply.
Recommendation
Why Sean "Diddy" Combs Is Being Given a Laptop in Jail Amid Witness Intimidation Fears
Bird flu has hit U.S. dairy cattle for the first time. Here's what it means for milk supply.
A Texas woman sues prosecutors who charged her with murder after she self-managed an abortion
Pat Sajak replaced as 'Wheel of Fortune' host? You won't believe the Joker who stepped in
Rams vs. 49ers highlights: LA wins rainy defensive struggle in key divisional game
Will the Backstreet Boys Rerecord Music Like Taylor Swift? AJ McLean Says…
How this history fan gets to read JFK's telegrams, Titanic insurance claims, UFO docs
Stock market today: Asia markets are mixed after Wall Street’s strong manufacturing data