Dutch Government Promises to Return Stolen Colonial-Era Objects Back to Their Countries of Origin

[Stan BiSH]

i wonder how museums in france/britain are going to look like if they decide to follow the dutch (guessing that like empty warehouses )

The Dutch Government Just Promised to Return Any Stolen Colonial-Era Objects in Its Collections Back to Their Countries of Origin

The guidelines follow recommendations from a report issued by an advisory commission led by experts from the nation's leading museums.

news.artnet.com

The government has agreed to adopt recommendation issued by the country's top museum experts.

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The government of the Netherlands has agreed to put in place guidelines that could make it a global leader in restituting colonial-era objects.

The guidelines follow recommendations in a report issued by an advisory commission led by experts from the nation’s leading museums.
The document, published in October, called for a “recognition that an injustice was done to the local populations of former colonial territories when cultural objects were taken against their will,” and recommended those artifacts be returned to the former colonies.

“It’s groundbreaking, it’s progressive, it’s a radical break with the past,” Jos van Beurden, an expert on colonial restitution, told the Art Newspaper.
“It’s crucial that the discussion is no longer restricted to war trophies.”

The government will now establish an independent committee to assess restitution requests and to advise museums as to whether an object was acquired involuntarily.
“Because of the imbalance of power during the colonial era, cultural objects were—effectively—often stolen,” according to a recent statement by the Dutch government.

“If it can be established that an object was indeed stolen from a former Dutch colony, it will be returned unconditionally. Cultural heritage objects that were stolen from a former colony of another country, or which are of particular cultural, historic, or religious significance to a country, may also be eligible for return.”

“The colonial past is a subject that still personally affects many people every day. This is why we must treat colonial collections with great sensitivity,” Ingrid van Engelshoven, the nation’s minister of education, culture, and science, said in a statement. “There is no place in the Dutch state collection for cultural heritage objects that were acquired through theft. If a country wants them back, we will give them back.”
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[abra]

Nice

 

[Seriously]

sweats in Brit​

 

[hatmixx]

Looks like they finally saw Black Panther

 

[yerm]

sweats in Brit​

Was just gonna say that We'd have to have some decency first

 

[Seriously]

Was just gonna say that We'd have to have some decency first

@Mimi threatens me daily over returning greek marbles

 

[Mimi]

@Mimi threatens me daily over returning greek marbles

start getting in line

 

[MedicationHelps87]

Good to see.

 

[Katniss]

i wonder how museums in france/britain are going to look like if they decide to follow the dutch (guessing that like empty warehouses )

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Probably depends on the museum.
The most famous museums in the Netherlands are best known for Dutch paintings (van Gogh, Rembrandt, Van Hals, Vermeer etc etc). Tourists will still come to visit them, even if they lose some of their foreign objects (which make up little of what is on display in these kinds of museums anyway).
The Tropenmuseum is not the most famous museum or tourist draw. Their exhibitions often deal with contemporary subjects, like pop culture in Japan, fashion in Africa right now with fashion designers participating, photography exhibitions, music etc. They would lose some objects, but can still easily survive without it, I would say. As far as I see it, that museum is not so much about old objects but more about living cultures in the world right now (or in recent times).

The British Museum, however, is mostly known for foreign objects; in the first place its Egyptian collection, but also Greek, Indian, Chinese, African, the Americas etc. Few people come to the British museum to see the British objects, even though they have a lot of those as well. The British Museum has thousands of objects on display, but they only make up a small percentage of their total collection (about 1-2% of the total collection is on display, I think). The British Museum is the most visited attraction in the UK, so they would stand to lose massively.

What they could do is start returning the objects that are not on display. It will take time anyway and in that time they can find some way to keep the museum relevant without the foreign objects. They can still loan from other museums in addition to their British/European collection. Or they might do a bit of what the Tropenmuseum is doing: photography/fashion exhibitions, build imitated streets of the past/foreign countries or have music performances and more. In the end, it might invigorate the museum, as they could create more diversity in what they display instead of mostly the same objects all the time.

Don't know about the French Museums, though I think the Louvre will be a tourist draw as long as Mona Lisa is there.

What they would lose is research opportunities of objects in their possession, but they could also create closer bonds with foreign museums when they return objects to them.
Ideally, more exchange can then take place.