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Netherlands in dialogue with former colonies to prepare renditions

2020-10-25T07:11:45.824Z


A report commissioned by the Dutch Ministry of Culture recommends the return of the works in order to restore "the injustice done to local populations".


The Netherlands should return the looted art to their former colonies.

In any case, this is the official recommendation of an advisory committee to the Dutch Ministry of Culture.

The report, without appeal, calls for "

the recognition of the injustice done to the local populations of the former colonial territories when cultural objects have been taken against their will

 ".

The research lasted a year and included interviews with residents of former Dutch colonies such as Indonesia, Suriname and several Caribbean islands.

In charge of the committee, lawyer and human rights activist, Lilian Gonçalves-Ho Kang You, calls on the Dutch government to recognize the injustices of colonialism and to return the objects if they are claimed by their country of origin .

Read also: Saber, statues ... MPs approve restitutions in Senegal and Benin

The decision will be up to the Dutch government.

Ingrid Van Engelshoven, the Dutch minister for education, culture and science, who initiated the report, said in a statement that the report offered "

clear starting points for a new way of dealing with colonial collections

”.

She said a bill would be taken from that report for presentation in early 2021.

The Netherlands in the footsteps of France

But the road between the report, the law and its execution can be long and winding.

France is an example.

Since a similar conclusion reached by a report commissioned by the French government in 2017 and delivered in 2018, only 27 renditions have been announced but not completed.

On October 6, the French deputies voted for the official restitution of 26 pieces from the “

Trésor de Béhanzin

” resulting from the looting of the Abomey palace, in Benin, in 1892. They are today at the Quai Branly-Jacques Chirac museum in Paris.

For its part, Senegal must recover a saber and its scabbard attributed to El Hadj Omar Tall, a great West African military and religious figure of the 19th century.

Held by the Musée de l'Armée in Paris, these pieces are exhibited in Dakar as part of a long-term loan.

They should be returned during next year, if the Senate validates the bill.

Read also: Restitution: Benin is asking for time

It is a

"balance"

between

"the legitimate demands"

of African states, and

"the universalist dimension of Western museums"

which is at stake according to the rapporteur Yannick Kerlogot (LREM).

In the Netherlands, Stijn Schoonderwoerd, the director of the National Museum of World Cultures wants discussions to be initiated, so that the former colonies can decide for themselves the steps to follow, describing as "neo-colonial" to claim to know " which is good ”for these countries.

Source: lefigaro

All news articles on 2020-10-25

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