Netherlands returns 288 objects and artworks to Indonesia

The Netherlands returns toIndonesia 288 objects from public collections that were brought to Europe during colonial times. “Unfairly,” the Dutch government specifies: these are artifacts and works of art deemed to be of cultural interest to Indonesia.

The decision to return the objects is by Minister of Education, Culture and Science Eppo Bruins, who determined to follow the advice of the Committee on Colonial Collections, chaired by Lilian Gonçalves-Ho Kang You.

Experts and organizations in the field of museums and collections from both countries collaborated intensively to make this return possible. Commenting on the decision, Minister Bruins said, “This is the second time we are returning objects that should never have been in the Netherlands, based on the recommendations of the Colonial Collections Committee. In the colonial period, cultural objects were often looted or involuntarily changed hands in some other way. The return of these objects is important in terms of material compensation.”

This is the second restitution the Netherlands has made to Indonesia as a result of the Committee’s opinions: the first restitution the Netherlands has made to Indonesia in its history was in 2023. Specifically, four Indo-Buddhist sculptures, namely the statues of Bhairava, Nandi, Ganesha and Brahma, brought to the Netherlands from Java in the first half of the 19th century, and 284 objects from the Puputan Badung collection will be returned. These include items such as weapons, coins, jewelry and textiles that were brought to the Netherlands after a war against the Badung and Tabanan principalities in southern Bali in 1906 and eventually added to the collection of the Wereldmuseum in Amsterdam, where they are kept.

The artifacts were officially returned to Indonesia on September 20 at the Wereldmuseum in Amsterdam, in the presence of Indonesia’s director-general for culture, Hilmar Farid, and the Indonesian Repatriation Committee. The Colonial Collections Committee recommended that the minister return these objects based on provenance research conducted by the Wereldmuseum and in accordance with national policy on colonial collections. These recommendations were established in close dialogue and cooperation with the Indonesian Repatriation Committee and other experts. This operation demonstrates, according to the Dutch government, the close bilateral relations between Indonesia and the Netherlands in the cultural field.

The Committee has published its recommendations. Further recommendations are being prepared in response to other requests from Nigeria, Sri Lanka, India and Indonesia.

Image: the sculptures of Bhairava and Ganesha.

Netherlands returns 288 objects and artworks to Indonesia

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