For the First Time in Its History, the Netherlands Is Returning an Enormous Trove of Artifacts to Its Former Colonial Territory of Indonesia

by admin

Jan 8, 2020

artnet

The government of the
Netherlands has repatriated 1,500 historical artifacts to
Indonesia, a former Dutch colony.

The objects come from the
Nusantara Museum, a 100-year-old institution in Delft dedicated to
art from Indonesia, which closed in 2013 due to financial
difficulties. After the museum shuttered, the objects were
transferred to the nearby Prinsenhof Museum.

“This is the first time in
Indonesian history that Indonesian cultural objects or artifacts
that were taken [to the Netherlands] are returned,” Indonesia’s
education and culture ministry director-general, Hilmar Farid, said
in a press conference last week. “Hopefully, this will pave the way
for the return of other museum objects in Europe.”

The two countries agreed to the
return back in November 2016, according to Tempo.co, but the process was delayed due to diplomatic
and legal hangups. Although the Netherlands initally offered to
return around 12,000 objects, Indonesia’s culture ministry decided
to accept only 1,500.

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View this post on Instagram

Sahabat Budaya, #tahukahkamu bahwa Indonesia
kembali berhasil memulangkan benda bersejarah asli Nusantara? .
Adalah 1500 benda bersejarah yang sebelumnya tersimpan di Museum
Nusantara Delft di Belanda yang berhasil pulang ke tanah air. 1500
koleksi bersejarah itu saat ini sedang melalui proses repatriasi
untuk nantinya bisa Sahabat Budaya lihat di Museum Nasional
(@museum_nasional_indonesia). . Proses pemulangan 1500 benda
bersejarah ini seluruhnya dilakukan oleh teman-teman di Museum
Nasional Indonesia dengan dibantu BUMN Logistik PT Bhanda Ghara
Reksa. Terima kasih atas kerja kerasnya . Yang
sudah gak sabar lihat 1500 koleksi baru ini mana suaranya?
. . Foto
dan unggah ulang dari Direktur Jenderal Kebudayaan, Bapak
@hilmarfarid . . #budayasaya #bendabersejarah #repatriasi

A post shared by Ditjen Kebudayaan Kemdikbud RI (@budayasaya) on
Dec 28, 2019 at 3:40pm PST

Since then, the Indonesian
government organized a special team of researchers to study the
objects in question. They found the collection to be wildly diverse,
ranging from ancient weapons to ceramics. The oldest of the bunch
date back to 5000 B.C., while the youngest were traced to the
1940s. Altogether, the objects are valued at an estimated €1.1
million.

They are set to go on display at
the National Museum of Indonesia this June. After that, they will
be dispersed to regional museums in the areas from which they
originally hail.

This is the latest in a long
line of restitution efforts
in Europe over the last several years as the continent continues to
grapple with its colonial past.

France has pledged to
repatriate objects to
African countries following a specially commissioned report urging
them to do so, while Germany has announced its
own broad
plans to return
colonial-era objects.

The post For the First Time in Its History, the Netherlands
Is Returning an Enormous Trove of Artifacts to Its Former Colonial
Territory of Indonesia appeared first on artnet
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