JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) 鈥� Centuries-old stone Buddha statues and precious jewelries to its former colony are on display at Indonesia's National Museum, providing a glimpse into the country's rich heritage that the government had struggled to retrieve.
The collection is part of more than 800 artifacts that were returned under a Repatriation Agreement signed in 2022 between Indonesia and the Netherlands, said Gunawan, the museum's head of cultural heritage. The objects are not just those looted in conflict, but also seized by scientists and missionaries or smuggled by mercenaries during the four centuries of colonial rule.
鈥淚 was so amazed that we have all of these artifacts,鈥� said Shaloom Azura, a visitor to the museum in Jakarta. She hoped other historical objects can be repatriated too, "so we don鈥檛 have to go to the Netherlands just to see our own cultural heritage.鈥�
The agreement to return cultural objects was inspired by the new era of global restitution and repatriation efforts.
In 2021, France said it was taken from the West African nation of Benin. Belgium returned a belonging to the slain Congolese independence hero Patrice Lumumba.
Cambodia in 2023 welcomed that had been seized during periods of war and instability. Many of the items returned so far have come from the United States. And the Berlin museum authority said it would return h from the former German colony of East Africa.
The Dutch government announced the same year the return of the Indonesian treasures and .
Only a few objects made it back before a deal was struck
The repatriation 鈥渋s not something out of the blue鈥� but followed a lengthy process, said I Gusti Agung Wesaka Puja, former Indonesian ambassador to the Netherlands who also headed the government's team tasked to recover the objects.
He said negotiations with the Dutch government have been ongoing since Indonesia鈥檚 independence in August 1945, but it was only in July 2022 that Indonesia formally requested the return of its cultural objects with a list of specific items.
鈥淭his repatriation is important for us to reconstruct history that may be lost or obscured or manipulated,鈥� Puja said. 鈥淎nd we can fill the gap of the historical vacuum that has existed so far.鈥�
The Dutch government in 1978 returned the famous 13th-century statue of princess Pradnya Paramita from the Javanese Singhasari Kingdom. During the same visit to Indonesia, then-Queen Juliana also returned a saddle and spear seized from Prince Diponegoro, a Javanese nobleman considered a national hero for his struggle against colonial rule in the 19th century.
The prince's scepter was returned in 2015. In 2020, Dutch King Willem-Alexander handed over Diponegoro's gold-plated kris dagger in his first to Indonesia.
Also pending is the return of the 鈥淛ava Man鈥� 鈥� the first known example of homo erectus that was collected by Dutch paleoanthropologist Eugene Dubois in the 19th century.
鈥淭he importance of the most recent repatriation is knowledge creation, that will give society a more complete knowledge of our past history,鈥� said Puja.
He said the recent repatriation efforts seem to also be motivated by practical considerations, such as when the Delf city administration sent back 1,500 objects in 2019. They were part of the bankrupted Nusantara Museum collection.
Focus on protection of repatriated artifacts
However, Marc Gerritsen, the Dutch ambassador to Indonesia, said the repatriation would only focus on cultural objects that are requested, rather than emptying out European museums.
鈥淭here is a huge interest from the Dutch public in Indonesian history and Indonesian culture, so we do know that if Dutch museums put these objects on display, there will be an interest,鈥� Gerritsen said, 鈥淏ut again, the heart of the matter is that the colonial collections artifacts that were stolen during the colonial period are returned on the basis of this process that was established.鈥�
He said the Netherlands, the largest investor from the European Union in Indonesia, has a unique relationship with Southeast Asia鈥檚 biggest economy.
鈥淥f course, we have elements of which we are not proud, but we are really grateful for the fact that Indonesia is so much attached to preserving that history,鈥� Gerritsen said.
To support its former colony in safeguarding its repatriated cultural heritage, the Dutch government has offered to assist in improving museum storage conditions and staff expertise.
Some researchers have criticized Indonesia, the world鈥檚 largest archipelago nation of 17,000 islands, for a lack of legal framework to protect its rich cultural heritage and natural conservation.
At least 11 cases of museum thefts were reported between 2010 and 2020, according to a 2023 report by Rucitarahma Ristiawan, a lecturer of cultural science at Gajah Mada University, and two other researchers.
In 2023, dozens of ships dredged the bottom of the Batanghari River in Jambi province, and the crews looted archaeological objects including porcelain, coins, metal and gold artifacts, which are believed to have been sold abroad, the report said.
鈥淚 think there is a lot to be reviewed from our historical works that are still kept in other countries,鈥� said Frengky Simanjuntak, who marveled at the Repatriation Exhibition at the National Museum, on display since October. 鈥淪o it鈥檚 not just about bringing them back home, but how to protect them."
Niniek Karmini, The Associated Press
