INDONESIA The Netherlands returns hundreds of historical pieces to Indonesia

The treasures had been looted during the colonial period and come from different islands in the Indonesian archipelago. Before the arrival of the Dutch, several local kingdoms prospered. The Amsterdam authorities hope to improve bilateral relations in this way.

Jakarta () – The Netherlands returned to Indonesia hundreds of historical pieces that had been looted during the colonial period. Last week the Volkenkunde Museum in Leiden began transferring 472 historical objects, including hundreds of pieces dating from the Tjakranegara kingdom on the island of Lombok in East Nusa Tenggara province, which were shipped to Amsterdam after 1894. they returned four Singasari statues from East Java, 132 works of art by dozens of Balinese artists made in the 1930s, and a traditional pottery from the Klungkung kingdom that ruled the island of Bali.

The material was received by the Director General of Culture, Hilman Farid: “The repatriation of these priceless historical treasures is undoubtedly important to find new clues about the past history of our nation,” Farid explained before traveling to Leiden to attend to the delivery ceremony, which took place on July 10. The value of the objects, he added, is important because it bears witness to dozens of Indonesian kingdoms of the past.”

The Netherlands progressively colonized the entire Indonesian archipelago over several centuries. “This is truly a historic moment for the Dutch authorities,” said Gunay Uslu, an official at the Dutch Ministry of Education and Culture.

At the beginning of 2020 the Dutch authorities also returned a ceramic of Prince Diponegoro, a national hero of Central Java who rebelled against the colonial rulers between 1825 and 1830. In 2019 Amsterdam had already sent 1,500 historical objects to Indonesia due to the financial problems of the Museum from Delft.

Dutch authorities have announced that they will return to Sri Lanka another 18th-century historical piece that was given to the Dutch king in 1940. “We don’t want to simply return these priceless historical objects,” Uslu continued. “But we also want to consolidate relations with these countries in the area of ​​historic sites and collections.”