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Thousands of pieces of art deemed looted by Dutch colonialists could be returned to their country of origin after the Netherlands’ most famous museums backed a report proposing a wholesale “recognition and rectification of these injustices”.
The directors of the Rijksmuseum and Tropenmuseum in Amsterdam said they would support the proposal made on Tuesday for a legal structure for the return of an estimated 100,000 pieces where a claim for restitution could be made, with the emphasis on return where “involuntary loss” is identified.
Among the exhibits cited by the report from the Dutch Council of Culture as needing examination is a 70-carat diamond that belonged to the Sultan of Banjarmasin and was sent to the Netherlands after his land, now part of Indonesia, came under Dutch control at the end of the 19th century. The diamond is on display in the Rijksmuseum.
“If it doesn’t belong to you then you must return it,” the author of the government advisory body’s report, Lilian Gonçalves-Ho Kang You, had said when proposing a new independent committee to examine claims.https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...y-colonialistsThe Dutch minister’s response has yet to be made public but the government has recently taken a proactive line on repatriation. Last March a gold-inlaid dagger surrendered by a “rebel prince” after his failed 1830 uprising against Dutch rule in Indonesia was finally handed back to Jakarta, 45 years after the Netherlands had promised its return.
The kris, a dagger with a waved blade, was among a number of Prince Diponegoro’s belongings that the Dutch government had vowed in 1975 to return, only for the cultural treasure to go missing.
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