“If I told you [to] cut the Mona Lisa in half… do you think your viewers would appreciate the beauty of the painting?”
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis told the BBC earlier this week when asked about why the legendary Parthenon sculptures, also known as the Elgin Marbles, should be returned to Greece in their entirety.
The treasures, which are part of the frieze of the Parthenon temple in Athens, have been at the heart of a dispute between Greece and the United Kingdom since a British diplomat snatched them in the 19th century. They are on display at the British Museum in London.
Following the BBC interview, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak canceled a planned meeting with his Greek counterpart, which was to take place on Tuesday during Mitsotakis’s trip to London.
While the United Kingdom, and the British Museum in particular, continues to balk at the return of looted cultural artifacts, other Western powers — often with a colonial past — have been busy in recent years giving artifacts back to the country of origin.
Here’s a look at some of the most notable cases around the world:
Benin bronzes: Nigeria v. Germany, the U.S. and the UK
WHO STOLE WHAT FROM WHERE?
West African Benin Bronzes are a group of elaborately decorated sculptures to commemorate plaques, animal and human figures, royal regalia, and personal ornaments. These artifacts were sacked during Britain’s aggressive colonial expansion in 1897 and dispersed throughout the world. Germany held the second-largest collection of Benin Bronzes in 2022, with the United Kingdom holding the number one spot.
WHAT’S BEING RETURNED?
Germany started the return of purchased Benin bronzes to Nigeria in 2022 with a promise to return over 1,000 pieces. Two-month later U.S. museums followed Germany’s lead and returned 31 artifacts, these pushes to return stolen artifacts coincided with the Black Lives Matter movement and to reconcile with nations colonial history.
In possession of most of the Benin bronzes, the UK has also started returning the artifacts: “Britain has the most of the works, and we thought they would provide leadership,” lamented Godwin Obaseki, govenor of the Edo state whose modern borders encompass the area that use to belong to the Benin Empire. The Horniman museum in London, having already returned the first of its bronzes, said it is pressing on with the repatriation.
Glasgow’s Kelvingrove Gallery, which has 19 Benin Bronzes, said it will return theirs as well after certain ground rules were set.
Cultural relics and fossils: Australia v. China
WHO STOLE WHAT FROM WHERE?
Australia was in possession of a dinosaur fossil that was more than 100 million year old, a Tang Dynasty (618-907 BCE) figurine depicting a rider on horseback playing a wind instrument, and a Tang Dynasty gilt bronze figurine of the Buddhist deity Avalokiteshvara. According to the Australian government the items had been illegally exported in 2020 and 2021 to other countries before arriving in Australia where importers were not aware that these items were illegally smuggled.
WHAT’S BEING RETURNED?
The Australian National Art Gallery returned the hyphalosaurus fossil and two precious cultural relics from the Tang dynasty. The Australian museum also donated a hairpin from the Qing dynasty (1644-1911) and a xinzun, an ox-shaped ceremonial vessel that Chinese experts believe to be from the Ting dynasty (1368-1644).
The Chinese National Cultural Heritage Administration, the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Chinese embassy has been working closely with the Australia Office for the Arts since 2020 to facilitate the safe return of relics, art items and fossils. China’s ambassador to Australia, Xia Qian, expressed his “heartfelt gratitude” to the Australians at the return ceremony.
Australian Minister for Arts Tony Burke concluded: “Whether it’s items of cultural significance Australia holds or items overseas that belong to us — they should be returned”.
Stolen treasures: Netherlands v. Indonesia and Sri Lanka
WHO STOLE WHAT FROM WHERE?
The Netherlands were one of the major colonial powers in Europe, and their museums are full of artifacts to show for it. Many of the beautiful items displayed in Dutch cultural centers come from the nation’s colonization of Indonesia and Sri Lanka. Many of these artifacts were looted by Dutch troops from a Balinese royal palace known as the “Lombok treasure”.
WHAT’S BEING RETURNED?
The return to Indonesia includes a cache of precious stones, ancient temple carvings from Java, a traditional Balinese dagger, and gold and silver jewelry from the Balinese royal palace. Sri Lanka will be returned a richly decorated bronze cannon, gold and silver ceremonial swords, two guns, and a Singhalese knife. 478 cultural objects were handed over to representatives of their home countries after being removed for hundreds of years.
Art law specialist Gert-Jan van den Bergh told the Guardian “It’s an important step, but just a first step.” adding “We have 300,000 colonial objects that are the property of the central state in the Netherlands alone.”
The return of artifacts does not include the human remains “Java man”, even though Indonesia requested the retun of the remains last year. The Indonesia government accused a Dutch paleoanthropologist, Eugène Dubois, of stealing the remains during colonial domination and forcing laborers to dig, some of whom died while working for him. The Dutch museum rejected the restitution bids claiming these artifacts would not have been discovered if it were not for Dubois’ initiative.
Ancient Crimean treasures: Ukraine v. the Netherlands
WHO STOLE WHAT FROM WHERE?
Several historical artifacts from Crimea, which had been housed in the Netherlands for nearly a decade, have finally been returned. The artifacts were initially loaned to Allard Pierson Museum of Antiquities in Amsterdam for a 2014 exhibition titled “Crimea – Gold and Secrets of the Black Sea” and included bronze swords, golden helmets, and precious gems which were contributed by both the Ukrainian Government in Kyiv and four Crimean museums.
The 2014 invasion of Crimea by Russia triggered a prolonged ownership dispute between Ukraine and the Netherlands. Ukraine initially sought to prevent the artifacts from falling into the hands of their aggressor. Els van der Plas, director of the Allard Pierson museum, said, “This was a special case, in which cultural heritage became a victim of geopolitical developments.”
WHAT’S BEING RETURNED?
In an effort to return the artifacts to their rightful owner, the Dutch Supreme Court mandated the museum to return the items to Ukraine rather than the four original museums. The court asserted that the artifacts were integral to Ukraine’s cultural heritage.
The Supreme Court’s decision noted the absence of recognition for Crimea, stating, “Although the museum pieces originate from Crimea and can therefore also be regarded as Crimean heritage, they are part of the cultural heritage of Ukraine”.
Despite initial uncertainty, Van der Plas recently announced the return of the artifacts to Crimea. On Nov. 27, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov reiterated Russia’s stance that the collection should be returned to Russian-controlled Crimea, “it belongs to Crimea, and it should be there.” All the stolen artifacts have now been returned.
Centuries old mummies: Switzerland v. Bolivia
WHO STOLE WHAT FROM WHERE?
In 1893, Gustave Fierriere, the German consul in La Paz, sent three pre-Colombian centuries-old mummified bodies to the Geneva geographical society without the permission or consent of the original owners. The Bolivian minister identified them as being from Aymara origin, a culture established between the year 1,110 and 1,400. The mummies were returned at a ceremony at the Geneva Ethnographic Museum which found out the artifacts were imported into Switzerland.
WHAT’S BEING RETURNED?
The three mummified bodies consisted of two adults and a child originating from a high-altitude mining town. They had been mummified according to funeral traditions before the explorer Christopher Columbus arrived in the late 15th century and forced European colonization of the continent.
Bolivian Minister Sabina Orellana Cruz reflected on the significance of the return stating “Today, we are reunited with our roots.” Minister Cruz praised European countries for their continued effort to return looted objects and human remains, emphasizing the connection between restitution and decolonization.
